


The Story of the Windlenot Museum

by RichSkitzCale



Category: Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Shivers (Computer Game)
Genre: Adaptation, Gen, Horror, Novelization, Paranormal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-08-17 06:09:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 58,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8133223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RichSkitzCale/pseuds/RichSkitzCale
Summary: Around 1980, two teenagers disappeared after sneaking into the unopened Windlenot Museum.  The story was that the owner, who the town had been at odd with, killed the teens and then fled the scene.  Another set of rumors stated the Professor Windlenot hid in the museum, and still waits for more teens to kill.  Fifteen years later, on the anniversary, a reporter going to do a piece about the story gets pulled into the story of the real events, thanks to two teenagers.





	1. Arrival At Dusk

**Author's Note:**

> Attention: Shivers is property of Sierra. Richard Cale is my character, and is used in other fics with my blessing. Michael McNeal is a creation of Mike N, who has fics posted on fanfiction.net as well, and the character is used with his permission.  
> This fic originally appeared on Fanfiction.net under my name on there, Richard B. Sampson Jr.  
> ============================================================

The Story of the Windlenot Museum

Chapter 1: Arrival At Dusk  
  
    Carl walked through the gate to the Windlenot Museum.  He wasn’t sure why Tony had sent him to the town, but Tony had said it was up the same lines that some of his stories were.  He had to admit that a museum of the unexplained was up his alley, but why did he have to do a story for the anniversary of a disappearance of two teenagers.  He then sighed and said, “Well, I suppose this is what I get for years of investigating all those paranormal stories.  However, I would like to find out how Ron got out of this museum story.”  He then looked up and saw the building that was the museum.  He let out a low whistle and said, “Maybe he saw the place first.”  Carl raised his Polaroid Instamatic and snapped a picture.  
    He then walked over to an orange sculpture.  He glanced over the sculpture and then down at the ground to see something odd.  He saw a strange green pattern on the ground.  He quickly took a picture of the pattern and then turned on his tape recorder.  He also started to walk over to a bench that over looked a small stream and said, “The Windlenot Museum is a interesting place, and at the center of the disappearance of two teenagers almost fifteen years ago.  As time passed, the story became legend in the area, and the owner of the museum who also disappeared from sight became the lead suspect.  No one has been able to get into the museum to investigate, but then, the whole disappearances are perfect for a museum for the strange and the unusual.”  He turned off the tape recorder and then sat down on the bench.  He then took off his old hat and fanned his face.  
    As he fanned his face, he just said, “I hate to say it, but I must be getting to old for all this.  I shouldn’t have parked so far away from the museum grounds.”  It was then his right hand brushed against the bench, and felt something odd.  He turn, to see two circles, one in the other, on the brown bench.  He took a picture of the odd symbol, and then looked at the one he took earlier.  His reporter’s instinct told him that there was a meaning behind the symbols, if only he could find it.  
    He was almost startled when he heard someone humming.  He glanced over the back of the bench, and saw a young teenage boy, possibly around seventeen, walking in the gate.  He watched the boy as he walked over to the museum sign.  He also noticed the boy was shaking his head, and realized why.  He noticed a red U painted over the O in the owner’s name.  He also realized the boy was humming a tune from the mid eighties.  He wondered what lured the boy here, and decided maybe what he needed for his story is to hear what the local teenagers thought about the old museum.  He then started to walk over to the boy in blue jeans, black shirt, and what looked like eyeglasses that would better suit a man his age.

* * *

  
    Richard Cale was used to making the hike up to the museum.  Over the past four years, he had walked up to the museum once a week.  He always enjoyed a good mystery, and from what his father had told him about what the museum was going to be, he would have loved to have gotten in the place.  Of course, he knew that would never happen.  Professor Windlenot had disappeared almost fifteen years ago, as well as the two teens back then.  He walked over to the sign for the museum and shook his head.  He then said, “Why did they all think you were nuts, Professor?  It’s a shame everyone is so closed minded.”  
    He was startled when a voice behind him said, “You know, I was just wondering the same thing.  Do you know much about this place, since you live in the area?”  Richard spun around to face a gentleman in his late fifties, wearing a light gray suit.  However, what caught his attention more that the reporter gear that the man had was odd straw hat that the man wore.  Before Richard could say anything, the man just said, “Sorry to have startled you.  My name is Carl.  I was working on a story for the fifteenth anniversary of the disappearances.  I was wondering if you could give me a young person’s take on the place.”  
    Richard looked at him for a second and finally nodded.  “I guess that would be alright.  What I can tell you is some of what is already known, but there are some things I have noticed about the place.  If you don’t mind the walk up all these steps, I’ll show you and tell you.  By the way, my name is Richard Cale.”  He watched as Carl nodded and he lead the way up the steps, watching as Carl turned on a tape recorder.  
    As they started up the steps, he heard Carl ask, “First of all, what do you know about the place?  Do you know why it was built?”  
    He nodded as he said, “Yes.  My father had told me all about it.  You see, Professor Windlenot was a rare breed.  He looked into finding the truth behind the legends, seeing if some of those things were actually real.  My father also said that the Professor wanted to make the museum fun and interactive.”  It was then that they had reached the vase that was on the steps, and Richard saw the odd upside-down arrow pattern behind it.  Richard then pointed to it and said, “Like that pattern.  There is another one near the door.”  
    He watched as Carl turned and said, “Yes.  I took photos of two other patterns.  They do seem to be odd, especially where they are placed.  It seems like they are part of a puzzle of some sorts.”  
    Richard smiled and said, “If you think that is odd, wait until we get to the door.”  He then lead the way up to the main door of the museum.  When they got there, Richard first pointed to the pattern, which was a black half circle type pattern.  “There’s the pattern I mentioned, but here’s the strange thing.”  He then hit the button, and they both heard the museum’s welcome message, stating that the museum was still preparing exhibits.  
    When it stopped, he heard Carl say, “That is odd, having the same message play all this time.  Wouldn’t you think the place would have run out of power?”  
    He nodded and said, “You would think so.  My father did say that the professor had the place built with it’s own generator, but even that would have run out by now.  It must get its power somewhere.  Of course, no one can get inside to find out, which is a good thing.  If anyone could get in, then the other kids in town would be using this place for the only other fun thing to do in this town.”  
    He watched as Carl gave him a puzzled look and said, “And what would that be?”  
    Richard started to lead the way back down, when he felt his eyes go wide.  He saw a group of teens at the gate to the place, and he saw some of them closing the gate.  He then said back to Carl, “Doing stupid dares, like spending a night at the local graveyard.  We better move fast, because I think some are locking the gate to do just that.”  Richard started to run, but decided to slow down, knowing a man in his late fifties might not be able to run as fast as he could.  He also hoped they’d reach the bottom before the other teens left.

* * *

  
    Michael McNeal was surprised at what was happening.  When his friends at school said they were going to drive around the area, he didn’t expect this to happen.  He hadn’t expected them to drive up here.  He had never seen the place, but only knew about it from talking with Richard Cale, a fellow student at school.  As he looked at his friends through the gate, he said, “What are you guys doing?”  
    He was surprised when Kiana smiled and said, “Well, you’ve been talking about the place so often, we decided it would be the perfect dare for you.”  He sometimes wondered why Kiana loved to set up dares.  Of course, there wasn’t much in town to do.  
    He then heard Everett, who was standing next to Kiana say, “Well, this is your own fault.  You kept talking about the place, saying things like ‘Richard said this about the place’.  You know, we never heard him talk about the place.  He just tends to stay to himself, or with his girlfriend, Yvette.”  
    He then heard Brandon say, who was on Kiana’s left, say, “Hey, don’t worry.  If something happens to you, Kiana will deliver the eulogy.  Besides, the way you talk about horror movies, we’ll see if you really know your stuff.”  It was at that time, he heard the wind pick up.  He could have sworn he heard something speaking in the wind.  
    He then heard Paige say, “Ok, I definitely heard something.”  It was the first thing she said since they got up to the old museum.  He wondered if there was truly something unexplainable in the old museum.  
    He then heard Kiana say, “It was just the wind.  Anyhow, we will all be back in the morning.  Let’s just hope it doesn’t rain tonight.  Just be thankful, Mike, that you aren’t at the cemetery.  However, I don’t think here is much better.  Professor Windlenut might be still here, lurking, and waiting for another victim.”  He then heard her laugh as they all headed to the car.  
    Michael just shouted, “If this is like a horror movie, I know better.  I’ll be waiting here in the morning, and I will not be happy about this.”  He then watched as the car pulled away from the gate. When the car was out of sight, he sighed and said, “I’m trapped on the grounds of the old museum.  How can this get any worse?”  
    He was startled when he saw a blur of movement, and jumped back as the blur reached the gate and said, “Wait.”  It was then he noticed it was Richard Cale.  He was surprised, since he thought Richard would most likely be with his girlfriend on a Friday night.  He then turned to see a man in his late fifties come walking down the steps that must have lead to the entrance.  Now he knew they all had a problem.  Three people trapped on the museum grounds.  He wondered who this man was, but in his gut, he felt they were about to start on a real life horror movie.  Suddenly, he felt a shiver run through his whole body.


	2. Entrance Patterns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the trio now locked in, they must figure away to get inside, before a storm hits. This, however, leads them to a very chilling discovery, leading them to the real mystery.

Chapter 2: Entrance Patterns  
  
    Richard Cale couldn’t believe his bad luck.  All this time, he made sure to stay away from those student who did crazy dares like this, and now, his own bad luck got him stuck in one.  What made it worse was that he recognized who had been stuck to do the dare.   It was his friend, Michael McNeal.  Michael was one of the few friends he had made at school, but he never though Michael would do something this careless.  He turned and faced Michael and said, “What the hell do you think you are doing?”  
    He watched as Michael faced him and said, “Excuse me, this was not my idea.  Some of my friends decided to trick me into spending the night here.  What the hell are you doing here?  Don’t you and Yvette usually do something on a Friday night.”  
    Richard sighed and said, “Her uncle Uptight is visiting.”  He heard Michael chuckle, and heard a coughing sound come from Carl.  He quickly remember the reporter and said, “Just to let you know, that’s her nickname for him.  By the way, that man is a reported named Carl.  He came to do a story on the disappearances, however, I don’t think either of us planned on getting stuck here.”  
    He watched as Michael walked over to Carl and said, “Sorry about this.  I didn’t know my friends were going to trick me into a dare.”  
    He saw Carl give a slight smile and said, “It’s all right.  Besides, it will make a good story to not include one view on the mysteries, but to have two views.  By the way, I don’t think I caught your name.”  
    He watched as Michael said, “My name is Michael McNeal.”  He watched as Michael turned to face him and said, “So, what should we do now?  Those four won’t be back until morning.”  
    Richard shrugged and leaned back against the pillar on the left hand side of the gate and said, “I have no clue.”  It was then he heard creak, and looked to see he had bumped a chain that opened the ugly mail box.  He then saw a letter fall, and he grabbed it.  He glanced at it, and was surprised by the post mark on the envelope.  He looked at the others and said, “This is odd.”  
    He heard Carl say, “What, the letter, or the number in the mailbox?”  Richard glance at the mailbox and saw a number on what looked like the mailbox’s mouth.  
    Richard then looked at the letter again, and said, “Both, since this letter is postmarked 1984.”  Richard carefully opened it and read the letter.  “It looks like it’s from Professor Windlenot’s lawyer.  Something tells me that when this was written, they though Professor Windlenot was still here.”  
    He then heard Michael say, “Wait a minute.  I thought Professor Windlenot killed the kids.  Why would his lawyer send a letter here.”  
    Richard was surprised when Carl said, “Wait a minute.  Do you think it’s possible that Professor Windlenot is a victim as well.”  He could see the sense in that line of thinking.  However, before he could state his agreement, he heard the sound of thunder in the distance.  As it went quiet, he started to wonder if their situation could get worse.

* * *

  
  
    Michael McNeal silently cursed when he heard the thunder.  He then said, “We need to find some shelter.  I don’t think it will be good if any of us get stuck in a thunderstorm.”  He watched as the others nodded.  He looked up at the museum, determined not to end up inside the place, and then said, “While the museum would be our best bet, I don’t think we should go in there.”  
    He then heard Carl say, “No way in up there, anyhow.  The front door to the museum is locked.  However, I did see a gazebo off the left path.”  He glanced down the left path and saw that Carl was right.  
    He then wave his arm and said, “Let’s get over there.  I just hope it’s big enough for all three of us.”  He then ran for the gazebo.  He heard Richard and Carl following him.  
    As they neared the gazebo, he turned back to see Richard also looking back.  He then saw Richard stop and heard him say, “Carl.  That small triangular rock.  Take a picture.”  He watched as Carl nodded and did as Richard said.  He didn’t understand why Richard asked Carl to do that, but he quickly stepped into the gazebo.  When the others joined him, he heard Richard say, “Did you get the picture?”  
    Michael looked at Richard and said, “What’s so important about the rock that you needed a picture?”  
    He watched as Carl held up the picture and said, “Richard and I noticed these strange patterns.  He pointed out the one on the stairs to the museum, and one on the door to the place.  I saw two more along the path we just ran down.  This one looks like two spirals joined together.”  
    Michael took a look at the picture, and saw Carl holding four more.  As he looked through them, he glanced over to see Richard standing at a strange podium in the gazebo.  He then continued to look at the pictures and said, “Any clue what they are for?’  
    He saw Carl shake his head as he said, “Not really, but something tells me they are important.  Call it a reporter’s instinct.”  It was then he heard a click, and turned to see that the podium Richard was standing at had opened up.  He heard Carl say, “How did you do that?”  
    He watched as Richard just said, “I put the number in that was in the mailbox.  However, I think this is a puzzle of some sorts.  There are eight posts, three black gears, three white gears, and a handle in here.”  
    Michael looked over his shoulder and said, “You’re right.  It looks like a brain teaser.  You probably have to switch the gears in a certain number of moves.  Let me try.”  He then started to move the gears.  He had always liked brain teasers.  It didn’t take him long to switch them.  He then looked at the handle and said, “Well, shall we find out what this does?”  
    He saw Richard nod and say, “Yes, besides, I don’t think this gazebo will do much good when that thunderstorm hits.”  He nodded in agreement, reluctantly.  He had a feeling that something was going to drive them into the museum.  He then turned the handle, and wondered what would happen.  
    When he was done, he heard Carl say, “Will you look at that.  Looks like the path leads over the water now.  It even appears to lead over to a replica of Stonehenge.”  Michael looked over the water and saw what Carl meant.  He then watched as Carl left the gazebo and headed over to the replica.  He followed, with Richard following him, and was amazed to see in the middle of the stones six panels with various patterns in them.  He also glanced up at the wall, and saw Carl taking a picture of another pattern.

* * *

  
  
    Carl finished taking the picture and turn back to the others, saying, “Looks like we found a meaning for the patterns.  All these triangular panels have colors that match all these patterns.”  
    He watched as Richard got onto his knees and started touching the panels, seeing a small panel in each panel turn to reveal a new pattern.  He saw a look of joy cross the boy’s face as he said, “It’s another puzzle, a visual one.  Hand me all those photos.”  He did so and stepped back as the boy went to work.  
    As he stepped back, he noticed the African-American boy looking at him.  Carl turned to face him and asked, “Is something wrong?”  
    He watched as the boy looked back at him and said, “I just have a bad feeling about this.  It just seems like a horror movie.  You ever have that feeling you are venturing into a dangerous area.”  
    Carl laughed and said, “All the time.  You don’t know half of the things I’ve seen in my life.  Just look at it this way, you aren’t alone in this.”  He couldn’t begin to count all the times he had ventured into danger’s path over the years.  
    His thoughts were cut short when he heard Richard shout, “I did it.  Looks like we even found a way to someplace dry.”  He looked over to see all the panels and slid apart, revealing a circular stairway down.  He then heard Richard say, “Shall we find out where these lead?”  
    He heard Michael say, “Yes, but we should all stay together.  We don’t know what we’ll find.”  He nodded, and saw Richard nod as well.  He then watched as Richard went down first, and then followed Michael into dark stairway.  
    When they reached the bottom, he saw the outline of a door, and saw Richard open it.  He watched as Richard jumped back, shouting, “Watch out, bats.”  He quickly flattened himself against the wall, and saw Michael do the same as the bats flew out.  He then watched as Richard entered the door, and followed with Michael.  
    Before he took another step, he saw a panel and opened it.  He saw a switch and pulled it.  Soon, he heard the door close and lock, and saw the tunnel light up.  Carl then said, “Well, I think we found someplace safe from the rain, but I don’t think we’ll get out the way we came in.”  
    He watched as the boys nodded, and heard Michael say, “Well, let’s hope this tunnel leads to someplace where we can get out of here.”  He then watched as Michael took the lead, and followed with Richard to a fork in the path.  He watched as the boy looked left, then right and finally said, “Let’s go right.”  
    He wasn’t surprise to hear Richard say “Sounds good to me.  At least it’s not dark.”  He nodded in agreement, and followed the boys.  Eventually, he saw another path branch out, and they followed it to a open room with a lake in it.  
    As they looked it over, Carl glanced to his left and saw a body lying in the sand.  He quickly pulled out his camera and took a picture of the sight and said, “Guys.  I think we just found one of the people who had disappeared.”  He watched as the two boys looked over at the corpse and gasped.   He then watched as Richard made his way over to the body.  He could tell that the boy had probably figured out who the corpse was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally posted on Fanfiction.net


	3. Otherworldly Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio discover the fate of the owner of the museum, as well as have their first encounter with the demonic Ixupi. The two teens also learn the identity of Carl.

Chapter 3: Otherworldly Encounters  
  
    Michael McNeal couldn’t believe what he was seeing.  It looked like a mummified corpse, minus the wrappings.  He watched as Carl started to take another picture, and wondered how the reporter couldn’t get sick after seeing that.  He had noticed that Richard almost threw up, but saw that his friend must have fought the reflex.  He then watched as Richard neared the corpse and looked at the clothes on it.  He also noticed that Richard was nearing a book.  Before Richard even touched the book, he heard him say, “Well, I think we just found Professor Windlenot, and by the looks of it, I think he was trying to flee from here.”  
    He walked over to Richard and said, “What makes you say that?  The fact that he’s laying like he was heading for the door before he fell dead?  The rumor was he killed those two teens.”  
    He was startled when he heard Carl say, “Well, if he was responsible for the murders, why is he heading out this way.  Also, why is he only carrying a book on Hieroglyphics?”  
    He watched as Richard pulled the book away from the corpse and opened it.  He watched as Richard paged through the book, and saw him hesitate.  “It looks like there is a page missing.  Other than that, we might need some info in the book, but I don’t think we should be carrying it around.”  
    He then watched as Carl pulled out a note pad and pen and said, “Here you go.  Maybe you should write down everything you think might be needed.”  He watched as Richard nodded and started jotting stuff down.  He then watched as Carl walked over to a small boat that was on the shore.  He watched as Carl took a photo of it, and then heard him say, “Michael, any clue how the boat might work?”  
    Michael walked over to the boat and looked inside, seeing what looked like two anchor levers and two turn knobs.  He then climbed in the boat and studied it.  Soon he said, “Well, it looks like the levers anchor and lock the turn knobs, and most likely the knobs cause the ship to move forward.  That could mean that there is a track guiding the boat.”  
    He then watched as Carl climbed in, and said, “Roomy vehicle.  At least we won’t have to swim across since the only way out might be across this lake.”  He then saw that Richard was finishing the notes he was taking, and starting to put the book back where they had found it.  He then heard Carl say, “You know, there is something weird about that body.  Something about how it’s posed makes me think he was fleeing from something when he died, but I didn’t see any signs of an attack.”  
    Michael looked at him for a moment and said, “If that is the case, then what did attack him?”  He watched as Carl shrugged and then saw Richard entering the boat.  
    When his friend was in, he heard him say, “Well, shall we find out what is on the far shore?”  He nodded and then started to move the boat forward.  As he moved it forward, he watched as Richard looked around cautiously as he said, “What’s the weird bubbling sound?”  He stopped moving the boat forward when Richard said that, and looked down at the boat.  He saw no signs of a leak in the boat, and then looked over the side.  When he did, he saw a strange creature lunge up at him.  He fell back into the boat, and felt the creature touch him, and could have sworn it even reached into him as he fell back.  It was then he noticed a flash of light, and saw the creature retreating.

* * *

  
  
    Carl quickly snapped a picture when the thing attacked Michael.  He was scared that the creature might have killed the boy, but when the watery thing returned to the lake, he noticed that there were no marks on the boy.  He leaned forward and said to Michael, “Are you all right?”  
    He was distressed when he heard Michael saying, “So Cold.  My chest feels numb.”  He then saw Michael clutching at his chest, and could have even swore that Michael’s face looked at least ten years older.  
    He then saw Richard moving to stay low, and heard him say, “Carl, get down.  I’m going to get this boat to shore before that thing attacks again.”  He then heard the bubbling sound start up again.  
    As Richard started to turn the knob, Carl said, “You better hurry, Richard.  I think that thing is about to make a second appearance.”  He then watched as it took very little time for them to reach the far shore.  He then heard Richard trying to force the knob to turn and said, “Richard, I think we are safe.”  
    He watched as Richard turned to face him, and then saw the worried look on his face.  He then watched as the boy moved over to Michael and hear him say, “Mike, are you alright?”  
    Carl held his breath for a moment until he heard Michael gasp for breath.  Soon, he heard Michael say, “What then hell was that?”  Carl then looked down at the photo he had taken when the thing attacked, and saw it had developed.  He then held the photo up so all could see.  He then heard Michael say after seeing it, “It looks like it’s from a horror movie.  I knew I had a bad feeling about this.”  
    Carl watched as Richard got out of the boat and said, “Well, I think that answers our question about what happened to Professor Windlenot, but not what that thing in the water was.”  
    Carl then helped Michael get up, as Michael said, “It was some sort of monster.  I knew it was a bad idea coming in here.  We are going to have to get out of here as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, that means braving the water again.”  Carl then saw Richard walking over to a door in the wall, with a strange pot near it.  As Richard walked, he saw Michael edge towards his friend as he said, “Rich, we need to get out of here.”  
    As Michael neared Richard, Carl pulled out his tape recorder and then said into it.  “What I originally thought would be a story about an old mystery, I soon discovered was that something unnatural was happening here, but then given the name of the museum, that’s an understatement.  However, the recent attack by that creature reminds me of the incident with the Peramatfait.  I have a feeling that this might be a repeat of that, however, this time I don’t think a stake of  bayou gum wood will help.”  He turned to face the two boys, and saw that Richard had knelt down and opened the pot.  He was then surprised to see a spirit come flying out of the pot.  After a moment, he realized what he was looking at.  
    As the spirit looked around for a moment, he heard Richard say, “It’s the spirit of Professor Windlenot.”  At that moment, Carl was sure that this was going to be a story that Tony might not let him print.

* * *

  
  
    Richard Cale looked in awe at the spirit before him.  He had never seen a ghost before, and he was sure he was seeing Professor Windlenot.  He wasn’t surprised when he saw a brief flash of light, and figured Carl had snapped another picture.  Soon he heard the spirit speak, “Fifteen long years I’ve been stuck in that pot.”  He watched as the spirit looked at him and said, “You must get out.  They are evil.”  
    He only looked at the spirit and said, “What are?”  
    He wasn’t surprised when the spirit said, “The Ixupi.  They have already stolen some of your friend’s life essence.  The only way to regain it is to capture the Ixupi.”  
    Right then, he heard Michael say, “What a minute?  What do you mean life essence?”  Richard then looked over at Michael and gasped.  His friend appeared ten years older.  When he first saw Michael in the dim light, he thought his eyes were playing a trick on him.  
    He was then surprised when Carl said, “I think he means your soul.  In simple terms, it can be called your essence.  I guess that one in the water stole part of it.”  
    Richard looked at the ghost again and said, “How do we catch them?”  
    He watched as the ghost started to fade and say, “You must catch them in their vessel.  Match the lid with the pot and confront them.  It’s the only way, or you’ll be doomed like me.”   He watched as the ghost disappeared and then recapped the pot and picked it up.  
    As he did so, he heard Michael say, “This is not good.  We should get out of here.  It’s like a run of the mill horror movie.”  He had to agree with him on that.  It played like something from one of the films he knew Michael loved.  However, he also realized that people would start asking why Michael looked ten years older.  
    Richard looked down the hallway and decided there was only one choice they could make.  He started down the hall.  As he progressed, he heard both Carl and Michael following him.  As he moved down the hall, he heard Carl say, “Richard, didn’t you hear your friend?”  
    Richard nodded and said, “I did, but let me ask you this.  What will all our friends think if Michael comes home ten years older, or possibly twenty.  We cross that lake again, and that Ixupi will attack us again.  Right now, our only course of action is to find the way to capture it again.  Plus, if you want to leave, we should find another way out.”  
    He heard someone smack their head, and looked to see it was Michael, as he said, “He’s got a point.  People will ask questions, and they can’t be easily answered, especially with your pictures, Carl.”  
    As they neared the end of the passage, he looked up as a camera focused on him.  It was just above an elevator door, and pointed at a panel on the wall.  As he approached it and slid it open, he said, “Besides, Carl, wouldn’t it help your story if you stumbled across the story behind the disappearances.  Besides, I think this story is more your line of study.  Now, before we continue, I need to figure out this panel.”  He glanced at the elevator and noticed the diagonal pattern on the elevator doors.  
    As he worked on the panel to match the pattern, he heard Carl say, “I must admit it would be a boost to my story, but why do you think it would be in my field of interest?”  He could sense in Carl’s voice that he was surprised by his statement.  
    When he finished getting the pattern in place, he heard the doors open, and started into the elevator.  He then turned to the others and said to Carl, “Because I did hear what you said into your tape recorder.  I remember reading a story of yours about that thing you named.  Yvette had gotten copies of them from her uncle.  Something tells me you know him, am I right, Mr. Kolchak?”  He watched as Carl’s eyes went wide as he entered the elevator.  
    He then heard Michael say, “Wait a minute.  Are you saying he knows more about these sort of things than he’s letting on?”  When he nodded, he heard Michael say, “You know, this is playing out more like a horror movie the farther we get into this place.  I just hope we make it out of this place.”  As the elevator started to rise, Richard was hoping the same thing.  He also started to wonder how many Ixupi might be running around the museum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic originally was posted on Fanfiction.net


	4. Terror In The Office

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having entered the museum proper, the trios first task is to examine the places Professor Windlenot called home, and his workplace in the museum. It does lead, however, to another attack.

Chapter 4: Terror In The Office  
  
    Carl Kolchak stood in the back of the elevator, surprised by what Richard had said.  He had never known that copies of his scrapped stories had gotten out.  He waited until the elevator stopped before he said, “Richard, you’ve read all my stories?”  
    He then heard Michael say as the door opened, “Let me guess, both you and Yvette are into the weird stuff, like UFO’s and ghosts.”  Just from hearing Michael speak, Carl could tell that the boy didn’t totally believe all that was happening.  
    He watched as Richard stepped towards the office door in front of him and said, “I never really believe if UFO’s, but Yvette does.  I tended to learn about myths, legends, and ghosts.  When we started dating, she asked her uncle, who had told her about your stories, Carl, to send some of them to us.  As we read them, we both agreed on one thing.  You knew what you were talking about, and they weren’t made up.”  
    Carl smiled when he heard Richard say that.  Many of the stories he had written had been stopped, some by Tony, others by someone else.  The usual complaint was that they were too far fetched.  It was good to know someone believed them for what they were, the truth.  Of course, now he wanted to know the truth about the spirit outbreak that was happening here.  He watched as Richard started to open the door, and said, “You know, I’m glad you believe it.  Of course, you both realize you are walking into a normal story that just turned abnormal.   I hope you are ready for it.”  He then raised his camera as the door opened, and snapped a picture of the office.  
    He watched as both teens entered, and heard Michael say,  “The place is a mess.  Definitely signs that Windlenot left in a hurry.”  He watched as Michael started to look over the desk in the room, and saw Richard started to examine a coat that was hanging up.  As they looked around, he heard Michael say, “So should we look for a new way out, and a way to catch that thing down in the lake.”  
    He watched as Richard glanced back at the desk, and said, “Well, I know we can rule out calling anyone.  The phone line is cut.”  He then watched as Richard pulled out a paper that was in the pocket of the jacket.  He watched as Richard looked at it and said, “And here is an article on the disappearances.  Windlenot circled the one picture and noted it ‘The Boy who has been following me?’.  How much you want to bet that he was one of the teens who disappeared.”  
    Carl opened the case he had brought, and pulled out some of the information that Tony had given him.  “You’re right.  Apparently the two kids were reported missing, and someone suspected the Professor.  However, the only thing that cleared him, but people forget since he ‘disappeared’, was he wasn’t in town the day the teens disappeared.  Of course, everyone forgets that fact, and since no one could get into the museum, they had no proof that the kids are dead.  However, after what we found, they can’t accuse Professor Windlenot.”  He then looked at the nearby bulletin board.  On it was some odd information, which included a listing of a possible location of Atlantis.  He then said, “Do you think any of this info is important?”  
    He was startled when Michael said, “Who knows.  But I found something with what looks like a dog’s head on a triangular base in this drawer.  I also found a scrapbook which lists some of his ‘findings’ and I don’t think you guys are going to like this.”  
    Carl saw Richard move to the desk as he said, “What is it?”  He also noticed that Richard’s had was resting on a tape recorder.  
    He watched as Michael said, “Apparently Professor Windlenot had acquired the Ixupi pots for the museum, and there is apparently thirteen pots.”  He heard Richard gasp and then noticed that Richard had bumped the play button on the tape recorder.  
    They all glanced at it, and he noticed that Richard had stepped back.  As they listened, they heard Professor Windlenot mention about the missing teens, and that stuff was misplaced in the museum.  They then heard him mention about the puzzles, and finally heard him as he was apparently attacked by one of the Ixupi.  When it ended, he heard Michael say, “So we are dealing with thirteen of these creatures.  That doesn’t sound good.”  
    It was then he heard Richard say, “Not thirteen, if Windlenot and the two teens all died at the Ixupi’s claws, and each spirit is in a pot, then that means that three Ixupi are gone. There are ten left, and one is water.”  He also noticed that Richard had backed up until he was right in front of the fireplace in the room.  He then heard Richard say, “We should keep note of everything we find.  I have a feeling that no matter how unlikely it seems, it’s a key to a puzzle or the mystery of the place.”  He then saw Richard pause, and heard him say, “Is it just me, or does anyone else hear what sounds like bellows?”  He then saw Richard turn towards the fireplace.  
    At that moment, he heard Michael shout, “Richard, get away from the fireplace.”  He noticed that Michael had started moving towards Richard, but he also saw a black horned shape with glowing eyes rise out of the ashes.  He pulled out his camera, and took a picture, and hoped Richard would move back in time.  He was shocked when the creature slashed at Richard, and he fell backwards into Michael’s arms.  As the lad fell backwards, he saw the creature go back into the ashes.  Carl then realized that they now knew something more about the Ixupi, however, he wasn’t sure what it was.

* * *

  
  
    Michael McNeal held his friend, and worried.  He knew what the one in the lake had done to him, and now he noticed it had happened to Richard as well.  His friend aged about ten years in his arms.  He waited a moment, and then glanced at Carl.  He was about to yell at the man, and realized that Carl might not survive an Ixupi attack.  He did noticed that Carl now had a Polaroid of the creature.  He then heard Carl say, “I did think about trying to push Richard out of the way, but I thought Richard might be upset if it killed me.”  
    He then felt Richard shiver as he said, “I would be.  Besides, we will need proof that these things exist.”  He watched as Richard slowly got up, and said, “We still need to figure out how to capture the things.  I have a feeling that if we capture one that attacked us, we will get our essence back.”  
    He nodded and said, “That makes sense, and both you and I need to do that.  However, for right now, we should avoid getting to close to the fireplace, or anything with water and ash.  So far, we know those things will each hold an Ixupi.”  He then watched as Richard nodded.  
    Michael then noticed that Carl was looking between two obvious door and said, “All right, now for the next question.  Which way should we head next, left or right?”  
    He glanced between the two door, and then went to the door on the right side of the fireplace, and opened it.  When he did so, he stepped in and said, “Looks like this is a workshop of sorts.  There are tools of all sorts in here, and even a diagram of a purposed Basilisk skull.”  He then looked at the other two who were entering and said, “What the hell is a Basilisk?”  
    He watched as Richard walked over to the diagram, and said, “If I remember my mythology right, it’s some creature that has a gaze that kills anything.  I don’t remember all the specifics, but if such a creature did exist, I hoped it died out.”  He then noticed that Richard was looking over the diagram and said, “And why are some of these pieces marked with numbers.”  
    He started to wonder about that as well, when he heard Carl say, “Maybe it’s another puzzle.  There is a box full of drawers here on the counter with all sorts of numbers on it.”  Michael turned and was stunned to see that Carl was right.  He also noticed a small key in the lower corner of the box.  
    Michael watched as Richard looked over the box and said, “There are twelve drawers.  I guess we have to pull out the marked drawers and turn the key.”  He then watched as Richard start to pull out the marked drawers.  
    It was at that point an idea hit him.  He looked over at Richard and said, “Wait, push those drawers back in, and pull out the ones not on the diagram.  If the Basilisk was a dangerous creature, that it’s skull should stay locked up.”  He watched as Richard nodded and did like he suggested.  Soon, he saw Richard turn the key, and he heard Carl yelp.  
    He glanced over at Carl who was rubbing his leg as he said, “That door just sprung open.  I shouldn’t have been standing so close.”  He then saw that Carl had glanced into the cabinet, and heard him say, “However, I think I just found one of those pots in there.  I think this one might be of interest to you.”  
    Michael glanced in the cabinet and smiled when he saw the pot.  On it was a drawing of what looked like water.  Michael went to pick it up, but Richard stopped him.  He looked at Richard as said, “Why are you stopping me?”  
    He watched as Richard motioned and said, “We seem to be stuck in this place right now.  We also don’t have anything we can safely carry stuff in.  Also, that pot has no lid.  I think before we pick up this pot, we should find the lid, and be sure which Ixupi we will capture using it.”  
    Michael nodded in agreement and then said, “I don’t like this idea, Richard.   We should take it with us.  I can see your point about no room to hold stuff, but with ten Ixupi running around, we should be ready.”  
    It was then that Michael had noticed Carl looking at the tool board and heard him say, “I think someone else had the idea to carry a weapon.”  He then glanced behind him and said, “I think they used the ax on the box behind me here, but found it to be harmless.”  He then watched as Carl motioned to the door and said, “Gentlemen, I do think that right now we are in a place we shouldn’t be.  A room with one way out.  I suggest that we get out of the room.”    
    Michael nodded in agreement and they all headed back to the office.  As they left the room, he closed the door and said, “I guess we should now head out the door.  It probably leads to the museum.”  He then noticed that Richard was looking at the rug hanging on the wall near the door.

* * *

  
  
    Richard Cale glanced at the door opposite them.  As he looked at it, and then at the rug hanging on the wall, he wondered if that was the only door left in the room.  He walked over to it, steering clear of the fireplace.  He crouched down, and lifted up the rug to see a doorway behind it.  He then said, “Well, I think we have one more area to search before the other door.”  
    He started to go into the doorway, when he heard Michael say, “Hey, wait for us.  Right now we shouldn’t be going anywhere alone.”  He nodded and waited until they were all together.  Once they were all there, he noticed an elevator in the room, and walked over to the call panel.    
    As he started to manipulate the call panel, he heard Carl say, “Well, I guess this is an area that wasn’t supposed to be found.  Do you think we found something we shouldn’t have?”  
    As he continued working the puzzle, he heard Michael say, “I don’t know.  Maybe we found something for privacy, like a private room or something.  I don’t know everything about the place.”  He knew that was true.  Unlike most of the people in town, who knew more about the Windlenot Museum’s history, Michael and his family had moved into the area.  
    When he finished manipulating the call panel, he saw the elevator open.  He entered the elevator and said, “If anything, it probably leads to a private bedroom.  The town first loved the idea of the museum, but when it took too long to build, they started giving Windlenot problems.  So the only place Windlenot could stay once it was built was here.”  
    As they followed him in, he heard Carl say, “So it could mean that there is background information about the professor up there.”  He nodded in agreement, and start the elevator.  
    No one spoke as it rose up, and Richard found himself focusing on the music that was playing.  It helped him relax after all that had happened.  When it finally stopped, he watched as the door opened, and said, “Top floor, ancient mysteries, family backgrounds, and hopefully no supernatural terrors.  Everyone off.”  
    He watched as the others stepped off and opened the near by door.  As he left, he saw Carl start to enter the room, and heard Michael say, “Very funny, Richard.  I don’t think the humor helped.”  
    Richard looked at Michael and said, “If we didn’t joke about this, we would go nuts.  You might not appreciate the joke right now, but later you will.”  He then entered the room, and noticed that Carl was over at the desk in the room.  He looked over at Carl and said, “Find something interesting?”  
    He watched as Carl nodded and said, “Yes I did.  I think I found his journal.  He talked about a few things in here, including his son.  I think he even wanted to send this journal to his son, Geoffrey.  It has a lot of information in here, but I don’t think it explains any of the things in the museum.”  
    He walked over and looked at it, and then noticed that Michael was looking at a small clock on the desk.  As he walked over, he heard Michael say, “Doesn’t this clock look like the one on the museum outside.  Maybe that’s a clue to something.”  
    He then watched as Michael turned the hands on the clock face, and noticed the figures under the face changed.  He then remembered the clock tower and said, “Maybe this clock is a model of the tower.  Let’s write down the times that certain faces are out, and maybe it will tell us something later.”  He watched as Michael nodded and then saw Carl walk over with the pad and pen.  
    When they were done, Richard heard Carl say, “Well, shall we head into the museum now.  Maybe there are more clues in the museum, as well as ways to find and capture the Ixupi.”  He nodded, and headed out of the room, and back to the elevator.  Soon, he was joined by the others and they returned to Windlenot’s office.    
    Soon, they were right at the door to the museum.  They still stayed clear of the fireplace, and Richard looked at Carl and Michael.  He just smiled and said, “Well, we are about to venture someplace very few people have seen.  Let’s find out what Professor Windlenot had in his museum.”  He then opened the door, and they stepped into the main museum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic and chapter was originally posted up on Fanfiction.net


	5. Researching The Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Upon entering the museum proper, the trio now tries to find out more about the spirits haunting the museum. What they find out is that their foes have been around a long time.

Chapter 5: Researching The Enemy  
  
    Michael McNeal couldn’t believe all the things in the main hall.  It was amazing.  He noticed a dry fountain near the back, next to a door.  Across from it, he noticed five animal heads.  In the middle of the hall was a long glass case with many items in it.  He noticed a door in a sunken recess, in what looked like a pyramid.  As they all walked into the room, he heard Carl snap another picture.  He started to wonder how much film Carl had brought with him.  As they started to walk into the room, he watched as Richard headed off to the right, saying, “I think that’s the front door over there, and I bet it’s locked.”  He then saw his friend run up to a black door by a desk.  
    He wasn’t surprised when he saw Richard pull on the door, and noticed it wouldn’t move.  He then shouted, “Leave it be, Rich.  If those spirits are running around the building, the door being locked might be all that is keeping them in here.”  
    He then heard Carl say, “It seems unlikely that keeping the door to the building locked would keep them in here.  If they are spirits, they would be able to go through walls.”  As he thought about it, Carl’s words made a lot of sense.  However, that did mean that something was keeping the Ixupi in the museum.  
    As they looked around, he wondered if the odd talisman in the office desk was a clue to why the creatures remained.  He then remember the desk, and shouted over to Richard, “Rich, check the desk.  Maybe something is in the drawers.”  He watched as Richard nodded and quickly sat in the desk’s chair.  
    It was at that moment that he heard Carl say, “Maybe that’s not the only place we should look.  It looks like those heads open up.”  Michael looked at the heads again, and noticed that each one was split right down the middle.  He walked over to them, but stopped when he saw the axe stuck in the wall near them.  He started to wonder if it had cause the split in each mask.  He quickly dismissed that when he opened one at realized how smooth they opened.  
    He looked back, and saw that Carl had walked over to his side.  He looked at Carl and said, “Maybe something is hidden in one of them.”  He then opened the lower one.  He noticed that Carl had checked the two on the right side.  He then went to the one in the center.  He opened it and almost jumped back.  As it closed, he could have sworn he saw a skull.  
    He then watched as Carl looked at him, and reopened the center mask.  He then saw that Carl started to open the skull.  It had been the same as other masks.  It split apart and he saw a strange pot in it.  As he looked at it, he heard Carl say, “You know, this looks like the markings of something Aztec, or some other South American culture.”  
    Michal looked at Carl in surprise and said, “When did you encounter something like that?”  
    He watched as Carl just gave him a smile and said, “I had encountered something in one of my stories.  Apparently some Aztec cult was trying to summon a god of theirs.  Trust me, I learned a bit about Aztec culture back then.  However, I’m not familiar with this symbol.”  He then looked at the pot and noticed that on one end of the symbol, it had four points.  He also noticed that the symbol was a long oval like symbol, with small semicircles on the bottom.  
    As he looked over the image, he said, “Maybe that marking has something to do with the Ixupi.  All we need to do is find out what it means.  However, I do remember one thing.”  
    He was almost startled when he heard Richard say, “What do you remember, Mike?”  He turned and saw Richard was heading back to them, and in his friend’s hand was a brochure.  
    When Richard had finally got next to them, he looked at his friend and said, “I think the spirit of Professor Windlenot had said we need to find both talismans and vessels.  That means we should keep an eye out for the matching lid.”  He could see both Carl and Richard nodding in agreement with what he said, but he also noticed that Richard was also glancing at the brochure he had found.  He looked at his friend, and asked, “Now, what did you find?”  He could see his friend was smiling, and that might mean it’s a good thing.

* * *

  
  
    Richard Cale looked up from the brochure when Michael asked the question.  He then said, “It’s a brochure for the museum.  From the looks of this, Professor Windlenot wanted to make this a fun and educational place.  He even has a list of exhibits here which must have a special dial or something next to them.”  He pointed to the list in the brochure, and pointed out the colored skulls next to each item.  
    As he pointed them out, he heard Carl remark to the strange marks.  “Now that adds to the feeling of what happening around here.  Do you think that the choice was intentional, or just to add to the mystique of the museum?”  
    He looked at the reporter and said, “I think it was done for the feeling of the place.  I honestly don’t think that the Professor had planned for the release of the Ixupi.  However, if he added puzzles, there has to be someplace to go to find out things.  Maybe there is a library somewhere.  Let’s check the door by the masks here.”  As he walked up to the door, he glanced at the axe imbedded in the wall.  He was half tempted to grab it, but then thought again about it.  If they were dealing with spirits, the axe would do them no good.  
    When he had opened the door, he smiled, seeing that their first guess was the very room they needed.  He stepped into the room, followed by Michael and Carl.  As he looked over the room, he noticed three things.  The first was the candelabra on the left side of the room.  The second was an empty podium on the right side of the room.  The last thing was an apparent secret passage that appeared behind an open wall.  
    Once they were all used to the new room, he heard Michael say, “Let’s check every shelf.  Maybe we can find out about the Ixupi in one of these books.”  He then watched as his friend started checking the shelves near the door they had come in.  He saw that Carl had gone over to the bookshelf closest to the podium.   That left him with the shelf near the candelabra.  He quickly started looking through the shelf.  
    As he looked through the books, he felt as if the candelabra was watching him.  He wasn’t sure why he had that feeling, but he hoped it was unfounded.  He then pulled out one book.  From it’s cover, he could tell it was a book about Unexplained items in history.  The book had opened to a few pages with pictographs about aliens and UFOs on it.  He copied them down, and then went to the next book.  It was a blue book with mythology about the stars in it.  He noticed that this book opened to stories about the gods the inner planets were named after.  Before he moved on, he said, “Find anything yet?”  
    He heard Michael say, “Only that the podium must have been for the book the Professor was holding.  It even has it’s title on it.  Did you find anything, Carl?”  
    He glanced over at the reporter, who seemed to be eyeing the top shelf.  Something told him that Carl must have seen something high up on the shelf.  “Well, I think I see something, but I’m going to need help reaching it.  Mike, can you move that ladder over, and spot me while I climb up.”  He watched as his friend helped the reporter.  
    He returned his attention to the books, and came across a book of South American pictographs.  He quickly opened the book, and shouted, “I think I found something to help us.  It’s a book full of pictographs.  One looked like the one that was on the pot we found Windlenot’s spirit it.  His pot was marked for stone.”  He thought again of where they had found Windlenot’s body, down in the underground cave, and wondered if that meant an Ixupi in stone had gotten the Professor.  
    He then heard Michael say, “Is the markings from the pot in the masks in there?”  He saw that his friend was watching as Carl pulled at a book high up on the shelf.  
    He looked down at the book, and found the picture.  “Yes, it’s the pictograph for metal, or metal working.”  He started to wonder if that meant a fourth type of Ixupi that might be around.  
    He then looked up as Carl said, “Hey Rich, what icon looks like two flowing lines ending it what appears to be flames?”  He glanced over at where Carl was, and noticed that a statue that had been high up on the wall had turned to expose a pot in the base.  He also noticed that one book in the bookshelf was pulled out.  
    He glanced down at the book and found the image.  “That would be the one for burning water, oil, or tar.”  He started to page through the book, and saw there were thirteen images in the book.  He also heard the others starting to move over to him, as he said, “There are pictographs for ten other items in here.  Wood, sand, jade, fire, cloth.”  He felt a surprised look cross his face as he then said, “Wax, crystal, water, ash, and lightning.  Do you think they had a concept of what lightning was back then?”  
    He watched as Carl was now at his side, and said, “Well, if one believes that ancient aliens had visited these cultures, it’s not hard to see that they would know of electricity.”  Richard wanted to scoff at that, but decided to keep his opinion to himself.  The Ixupi was strange enough, and surviving them was more important.    
    He then noticed that Michael was also looking at one of the books he hadn’t reached yet. He watched as his friend pulled out the book, and then said, “This book has the same symbol on it that Professor Windlenot had etched into the floor where we found his body.  Maybe this book can tell us about the Ixupi.”  
    He watched as Michael then opened the book and started to page through it.  As he read, Richard could see a worried look crossing his friend’s face.  He looked at his friend, and said, “Mike, what did you find out?”  
    He watched as his friend looked at him and said, “This book says what they are.  Apparently some ancient deity sent the Ixupi out to kill people.  I’m guessing the leader of the tribe found out how to capture them in many vessels.  Each vessel has an element that the spirits are now bound to.   I think all the pots we are finding held the Ixupi.  The book even says that at this time, there are thirteen.”  
    He then heard Carl say, “Wait a minute, if there are thirteen in total, and two teenagers and the professor were claimed by one Ixupi each.”  He saw Carl was thinking about the whole situation.  The same thoughts were running through his mind.  He knew they were all going to come to the same conclusion.  He then watched as Carl looked at them and said, “That means there are about ten Ixupi left, and I think we know what four of them are.”  
    He wanted to know how Carl came to that conclusion, but also wanted to get out of the library.  He started for the rear door, and said, “Why don’t you tell us which ones we know are here once we leave the room.  Maybe there are some things in this hallway back here.”  He then stepped into the rear hallway, and was surprised at the somewhat futuristic feel the hall had.  He also noticed that along the floor were various items scattered about.  He wondered if they had found where one of the teens had run.

* * *

  
  
    Carl Kolchak couldn’t believe how strange this back hall looked.  As he looked at it’s design, he said, “Must not be a part of the tour.  Maybe this is how they got exhibits from one area to the next.”  He then started to walk to the left and said, “Anyhow, we already know about four of the Ixupi that are here.  First, we know the Water Ixupi is here because it attacked you, Michael.  We know the Ash Ixupi is here because it attacked you, Richard.”  He made sure he pointed to each one as he mentioned the point.  
    He then held up his hand with two fingers extended.  “Now, Michael found the pot for the Metal Ixupi in the transformation masks, and we just found the pot for the Tar Ixupi in the library.  That makes four Ixupi we know are here.  We also know that the Stone Ixupi is no longer here, since Windlenot is in that pot.  We know two more Ixupi out of the eight left took the teenagers.  We are just going to have to keep tract of those pots we find to know which ones are left.”  At that moment, he glanced down at the floor, and saw a ruined lipstick container, the top of which was mashed.  He looked at it for a moment, and then looked over at the wall, noticing the elevator there.  He was about to try to enter it, and then looked at Richard, figuring it had another puzzle panel on it.  “Richard, I believe those panels are your area of expertise.”  
    He watched as Richard stepped up to the panel, and started to work on the task.  As he did so, Carl heard Rich say, “Let me guess.  You think the reason that lipstick is ruined is in the elevator.”  He nodded, and watched as Richard went to work.    
    As the boy worked the panel, he heard Michael say, “So you figure we have six more Ixupi we need to identify?  Any guesses one which ones might still be in the museum?”  
    He took off his hat for a moment, and looked at Michael, revealing his receding hair line.  “Well, we have deduced that the Stone Ixupi claimed Professor Windlenot’s life.  I’m guessing that the two other Ixupi who claimed the two other teens, are most likely hard to avoid.  Maybe the Wood Ixupi for one, and possibly Fire.  The wood seems abundant, but I’m not sure if I’ve seen even one fire in the place.”  As he finished his theory, he could have sworn that he was talking with Tony Vincenzo.  
    That thought was cut short when he heard the elevator door open, and saw Richard stepping inside.  He stepped to the door, and started to hear the same music he had heard before in the other elevators.  He also noticed a strange circle shape on the one wall.  He quickly took a picture of the mark, and heard Richard say, “This is linked to something.  That almost looks like the name of Windlenot’s son.”  He then saw Richard leave the elevator, saying, “I think we should check out the rest of this floor before we go up.  This hallway if full of dropped items.”  
    He nodded in agreement, and they started down the hall, past were they entered the hallway.  As they walked, they found an ID card, a report card, and even a note of some sorts.  As they picked them up, he heard Michael say, “You know, I though the school’s ID cards were bad now.  This one is worse.  At least now we know the name of one of the missing teens.”  
    He watched as Richard had reached the far end of the hall, and saw the boy look left and right.  He then heard Richard say, “That’s good to know.  What’s her name?”  
    He then saw Richard head off to the left.  He looked at the card and said, “Looks like her name was Beth Nelson.  I’ll have to include that in my story.”  He looked up, hoping to see Richard had come back into view.  When he didn’t see the boy, he shouted, “Richard, are you all right?”  
    He was relieved to hear Richard shout, “I’m find.  I found Beth’s purse down the steps here.”   That was news to him.  He went to the end of the hall, and noticed that there were steps down the left path.  The right path appeared to end in a dead end.  He then looked down the steps, to see Richard kneeling over a purse, and holding an address book in his hands.  
    When they reached him, he heard Michael shout, “Rich, don’t run off alone.  With those Ixupi running around, that could be dangerous.  What if one of those things attacked you.  You might have been a sitting duck.”  
    He watched as Richard got up and said, “Every move we make is going to be dangerous, Mike.  However, we can use our senses to help us survive.  Remember the last two Ixupi attacks.  They were preceded by a sound that was out of place.  Right now, there are no sounds.”  
    Carl thought about what the boy said, and then said, “He’s right.  Before the Ash Ixupi attacked, Richard heard a sound like bellows.  Before the Water Ixupi attack, we heard bubbling water.  A sound precedes each Ixupi attack.  I don’t hear any unusual sounds here.”  
    He then heard Richard say, “My point exactly.  We can move about in a group, or even alone.  If you think we should stay as a group, fine.  However, we should remember what sounds would mean an Ixupi is around.  We should also take note of anything that seems unusual, like this diagram.”  It was then Carl noticed that the address book was opened to a diagram of an image, and the words ‘red door’ under it.  
    Carl looked at the image and said, “Maybe it’s a clue to something else in the museum.  Copy it down, and well look for it.  Now shall we see what’s down the steps.”  
    He watched as Michael shook his head and said, “I’m not sure, might be very risky right now.  I still don’t think we should be out of each others sight.”  Carl had to agree with that.  He knew that some of his own adventures put him alone and in harms way more times than he’d like to remember.  
    He then had an idea.  He looked at Michael and said, “How about this.  We both go to the bottom of the stairs.  You stay there, and I’ll head to the end of the hallway.  I’ll see what’s at the end of the hall, and come back and tell you what I found.  Then we head back to the main hall of the museum.”  
    He saw Michael nod in approval.  They then headed down the steps, and Michael took his spot, as he continued to the end of the hall.  As he had figured, at the end of the hall was a door, marked for authorized personnel only.  He returned to Michael, and then headed back up the steps.  As they reached Richard, he saw the boy get up, and fall in step.  Just before they reached the library, he heard Michael say, “What was down there, Carl?”  
    As he walked into the library, he said, “Authorized personnel only.  I’m guessing it was the power room, since the sign for high voltage was on the door.  We may have to check the room out later.  I don’t think we should go anyplace more riskier than this right now.”  As he finished saying that, he was aware of a sound.  It was like the sound of a lot of wax melting.  He then looked at Richard, who seemed to be staring at the candelabra.  He realized what was coming just as an oozing figure emerged out of the candelabra.  
    He watched Michael grab Richard just as the creature attacked the boy.  He quickly snapped a picture, and then opened the door back to the main hall of the museum.  He then heard Michael say, “Hurry, before that thing tries to attack again.”  He watched as Michael pulled Richard out of the room, and then exited the library, closing the door behind him.  As they all caught their breath, Carl mentally added the Wax Ixupi to the list of ones they knew were in the museum.  He also knew that Richard would want to capture that one personally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally posted up on Fanfiction.net


	6. Clues On Film

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After another Ixupi attack, the trio starts finding clues in the various videos and movies in the theater. Some of those clues, thankfully, lead to revelations, as well as capturing more Ixupi.

Chapter 6: Clues On Film  
  
    Richard Cale shivered as he recovered from the attack.  He couldn’t believe he had been so stupid.  He fell for the very thing he had warned the others about.  What made things worse was the fact that something told him to be wary of the candelabra earlier.  He was then thankful when the shivering subsided, and he glanced at his reflection in the glass case in the room.  He looked twenty years older than his actual age.  It was then he noticed that Carl was patting him on the back, saying, “Richard, are you all right?”  
    He half wanted respond sarcastically, but decided not to.  He then looked at Carl, and he could see concern in the man’s eyes.  “I’ll be fine, right after I catch those Ixupi.  I have no desire to end up like the Professor, or the two missing teenagers.  Besides, I don’t think my parents, or Yvette will be thrilled with me if I get trapped in a pot.”  
    He then saw Carl laugh, and heard the reporter say, “I understand.  I’ve had a few close calls like that.  Ever been afraid to fall asleep?”  When he shook his head, Carl continued.  “I have been.  It happened when I was trying to catch a doppelganger that was a firebug.  The only safe place one could sleep was in a church.”  
    Richard started to wonder which of the stories that he and Yvette had read was the subject of that bit of info, when he heard Michael yell, “Hey Rich, if you are ready, maybe you can open this door here.”  He looked over in his friends direction, and saw that he was standing near the door that was in the pyramid.  
    He walked down the steps and quickly tried the handles to the door.  He wasn’t surprised to see they were locked.  He then looked at his friend, and said, “Do you think it’s a puzzle lock?”  
    He watched as Michael nodded, and pressed the star in the center of the door.  Soon, he saw two panels swing open, revealing four sets of eight squares, and various Egyptian symbols.  As he looked over it, he heard Michael say, “Something tells me that we need to place the symbols in the right spots, but I’m not sure how.”  
    Richard started to go through all the notes he had gathered from the Egyptian book, when he heard Carl say, “You know, that star in the center looks like a compass.”  When he heard those words, he quickly turned to the page he had put the compass points on.  
    Now that he knew what the solution was, he quickly placed all the panels in their proper spots.  When he placed the last panel, he heard the door unlatch, and he opened it.  When he stepped in the door, he was stunned at what he saw.  “Looks like it’s a movie theater.”  
    As he continued into the theater, he heard the others enter.  As he continued looking around, he noticed that the movie curtain was closed.  He also noticed a podium on one side of the stage.  He watched as Carl walked over to it, saying, “Looks like this place was designed to educate as well.”  
    He then noticed Michael was heading over to the left side of the stage.  “You know, this is similar to the one place I am considering going.”  He then saw his friend look at him.  “Provided that we get out of here first.”  
    Before he could respond to Michael’s comment, he heard Carl shout, “I think you both better look over here.”  He then saw Carl take a picture of the podium, and ran up to see what the reporter had found.  He look at the paper on the podium, and realized what Carl had found out.  
    As he looked at it, he noticed that Michael had stayed at the far end of the stage.  He was looking down a hallway as he said, “What is it?”  
    Richard glanced at what he saw again, and said, “Notes between the two teens.  Apparently, they used this place to pass notes while they were avoiding the Ixupi.  However, the one note hints that Beth went someplace she thought was safe.”  He then looked at the stage, and the huge curtain that was in front of the movie screen.  It was thick, and he could see there was no room for anyone of stage.  As he looked, he said, “What do you see on that side, Mike?”  
    He wasn’t surprised when he heard the response.  “Looks like a hall to another room.  You two better get over here so we can check it out.”  He nodded in agreement, and he and Carl joined Michael.  
    Once they were all together, they started down the hall.  As they walked, he wondered if something might be hiding behind the curtain.  He was so focused on that thought, that he briefly noticed a door with several small circles on it.  He also noticed a strange rectangular indentation on the one wall.  
    They finally stopped when he noticed Michael was looking up a set of stairs.  At the top, he could see a wooden door.  As he looked at it, one thing came to his mind.  He looked to the others and said, “Maybe it’s a projection room.  We were in a theater, and it would only make sense.”  
    He then watched as Carl went up and opened the door, and saw his guess about the room was right.  He also started to worry.  He could see shelves full of film cans, metal film cans.  As they stepped inside, he hoped that they wouldn’t hear any sounds of the Metal Ixupi.

* * *

  
  
    Carl Kolchak walked into the room, amazed at all the film cans.  He continued to the back of the room, between two shelves of films.  He glanced at some of the names on the film cans, and quickly realized how much Windlenot believed in.  One was titled ‘The Truth Of The Cyclops’, while another one was named ‘Does Scylla and Chrybdis still exist?’.  He quickly took off his hat, and ran a hand through his hair.  Most of his stories were never taken seriously, and this man had managed to get documentary style films made.  
    He then turned to face the door, and speak with the two teens, when he noticed they were not with him.  His pulse started to race then when he saw a very odd shadow going around the corner of the shelf.  He quickly ran to edge of the shelf, shouting, “Look out you two.”  
    When he turned around the corner, he was stunned by what he saw.  Both teens were fiddling at an old film projector, and there was no sign of whatever caused that shadow.  He then noticed that Michael kept working at the projector, as Richard looked at him and said, “What’s wrong, Carl?”  
    Carl walked over to them, and looked back towards the door, noticing the huge pile of film cans by the door.  “I swore I just saw some sort of monstrous shadow heading this way.  Do you think it was one of the Ixupi?”  
    He watched as Richard’s gaze looked right at the cans.  “I don’t know, Carl.  It would be nice if we could see them sneaking from one place to another.”  He then watched as Richard motioned back to the projector.  “Mike noticed something about the projector.  We thought you had followed us to it.  It’s an old design, but similar to the old models they have at school.  It’s even loaded with a film.  We are trying to figure out how to get it started.”  
    He then watched as Michael rolled the film up.  As the boy rolled up the film, he said, “We figured that if we play the movie, the curtain down there will open.  It might even stay open.”  He watched as Michael then looked down and smiled.  The boy then said, “Hey Rich, I think we are ready to roll the film.”  
    Carl watched as Richard went back to the machine, and then watched him push a button.  Soon he heard the film start to run, and he watched as both boys looked out the window.  He joined them and watched as an image of Professor Windlenot appeared on the screen.  He watched in stunned silence as Windlenot spoke of an ancient tunnel to a underground world.  He continued watching as Windlenot demonstrated opening a strange stone door.  When the film was over, he stood up and said, “Very odd.  Why would he want people to watch that?”  
    He watched as Richard stood up and said, “You know, that door looks like a puzzle door we might find here.  Maybe that’s why it was loaded up.”  He then watched as the boy looked back to the cans of film behind him.    
    He then followed Richard’s glance.  He also noticed that Michael was looking at the cans as well.  Carl decided to break the eerie silence.  “You think an Ixupi is in them?”  He saw Richard nod.  
    He then heard Michael say, “Let’s make a hasty exit then.  I don’t think any one of us want to be attacked again.”  He then watched as Michael ran to the door the room, not stopping until he was through the door.  He then watched as Richard did the same, and quickly followed.  As he ran by, he tried to listen for some strange noise, but didn’t hear anything.  
    He didn’t stop running until they were all at the bottom of the steps.  He paused to catch his breath, and noticed that the two teens were leaning against the wall.  As they stood there, he watched as Michael looked at Richard and said, “You know, Rich, this whole situation is getting more and more unreal.  I mean, look at what we are finding and where.  It’s like a damn game.”  
    He watched as Richard looked at his friend and said, “A game.  If this is a game, I’m not having any fun.  Let’s face it, Michael.  Playing something like this as a game, and living it is two different things.”  He watched as Richard hit the wall with his fist to punctuate his last statement.  
    Carl almost jumped as part of the wall slid away.  He then said, “Boys.  I think you better calm down.  I think you found a secret door.”  He looked through the opening, and said, “It leads to that hall to the power room.”  
    He watched as Richard and Michael looked in the door, and then watched as they both stood up.  It was then Michael said, “He’s right, Rich.  We found a secret door.  It might be good to remember this for later.”  He watched as the other boy nodded, and then watched as Michael looked down the hallway.  
    He followed the gaze, and then headed to the door they had all passed earlier.  When he reached the door, he said, “Think we should open it?”  
    He watched as Michael nodded and said, “Yea.  The trick would be to open it.  There is no doorknob on it.  Just those circles with letters on them.”  
    He then watched as Richard stepped up to the door, and started to turn the circles.  As the boy turned them, he said, “It must be set to open with an eight letter word.  There are eight circles, with four letters each on them.”  
    Carl then remembered the elevator.  He looked over at the door and said, “Wait.  Remember that diagram on the elevator wall.  What did you say the world looked like?”  He watched as Richard smacked his own head, and saw the boy work the dials.  Soon, the letters spelling the name of Windlenot’s son were lined up, and the door slid open.  As they looked in, Carl had a small feeling of dread, since it looked like they would be climbing a circular tower.

* * *

  
  
    Michael McNeal couldn’t believe what they found.  As they stepped inside the door, he looked to the right to see a circular stairway heading up.  He started to climb the steps and said, “Alright, where do you think we are?”  
    As they climbed, he noticed at a few points, chains were easily visible.  The more they climbed, he heard Richard say, “I think we are in the clock tower.  Remember the clock we saw when we looked at the museum.”  
    As they continued the climb, he heard Carl say, “I noticed it too, but I didn’t hear any chimes.  In fact, I don’t think I saw the face of the clock change.”  He thought back and remembered that as well, and then he saw why.  
    He stopped and pointed to a bunch of five chains.   One of the middle ones was broken.  He then said, “That explains the non-functional clock.  The one chain is busted.”  
    When they all had looked, he heard Carl say, “Well, that means we can’t hope to hear any time clues from the clock.  That could also mean that unless we have watches on, we won’t know how much time has passed.”  He glanced at his wrist, and realized he had forgot his own watch, especially since he didn’t plan on being stuck here.  
    He looked at the others, and realized that they had forgotten their watches as well.  He then continued his way up to the top of the tower.  When they had reached the top of the stairs, he noticed a small ladder.  He started to climb up it, being careful.  When he looked into the room above him, he smiled.  He then said, “Looks like the tower room is a control room.  I think I see a control panel.”  He climbed into the room, and walked over to a panel with twelve small monitors, and a large monitor.  He quickly pushed one button, and he saw an image of the elevator they first arrived in.  He pushed another button, and he saw an image of the hidden hall.  He glanced away from the panel, and saw that Richard and Carl had entered the room.    
    He watched as Richard walked over to a jukebox that was in the room, and started checking all the selections.  He also looked over to see Carl was glancing at a bunch of golden heads near a window.  He looked at them for a moment, and realized where he had seen them before.  
    Before he could say anything, he swore he heard Professor Windlenot’s voice.  He glanced over at Richard, and his friend shrugged, saying, “It’s this piece about Anansi the spider.  Apparently it’s a favorite of Windlenot’s son.”  
    Michael shook his head, and said, “Leave that be.  Remember that clock we saw in the bedroom.  It was a model of the clock tower.  Maybe we need to set the clock to the time to turn those heads.”  He then saw Carl move over to the panel.  
    When the reporter neared the panel, he was stunned to hear Carl say, “Hey Mike, did you see this?  It looks like there is a message in the one room.”  He ran over to the panel to see the reporter had brought up a screen.  He had moved the camera to show three words were painted on something.  He then watched as Carl wrote down the words and said, “Something tells me that phrase has to do with what ever room that camera is in.”  
    Michael smiled and said, “Indeed.  I bet one of the cameras is outside as well.”  He went over to the control, and flipped through all the screens.  Each one showed a different location, including a room with a strange robot thing in it, and another room showing the strange Ixupi symbol.  Soon, they found a screen that was outside, and pointing at the clock.  He stopped the camera and said, “Carl, can you keep an eye on the screen?  We are going to find out what will happen when we set the time properly.”  He then put his hand on Richard’s shoulder and said, “I need you to relay the info.”  He then went down the ladder and stopped.  
    When Richard was down, he watched his friend look at him.  “Mike, what are you up to?”  
    He smiled and said, “You said this wasn’t a game, but you also said that Windlenot made this museum to be fun.  What if before he died, he tried to leave clues about things.  Maybe those Ixupi had hidden one of the pots in the face with an open mouth.  We set the time to the time on the clock...”  
    “We reveal the pot, or the lid of another.”  He smiled when Richard came to the right conclusion.  He then heard his friend say, “We set the clock to 5:30, and we get what is hidden.”  
    Michael nodded and said, “Right.  Now, I’m going to the chains.  I’ll try the first one, and then the third one in the line.   I’ll come up when I’m done.”  He then ran down the steps, and stopped at the chains.  He pulled the first chain, and heard the clock chime five times.  He pulled the next chain, and didn’t hear anything.  “Rich, what’s the time.”  
    He heard his friend relay the message, and then shout back, “5:35.  You overshot by five minutes.”  
    “Damn.”  He pulled the fourth chain, and heard the clock chime five again.  He then looked at the chains.  The first set turned the clock five hours.  The second set turned it thirty-five minutes.  He then stepped back, and thought about it.  He started to move the chains, ignoring all the chimes.  He had to be sure he figured right.  When he stopped, he shouted, “What time is it now?”  
    Soon he got a response he was happy with, “4:20.”  He smiled and pulled the third chain two more times.  Soon, he was reward with two chimes, and heard Rich shout, “You got it right, Mike.  Get back up here.”  
    He bounded back up the steps, and back up the ladder.  When he reached the top, he saw Carl taking a picture.  The reporter then said, “Good job, Mike.  Looks like you even found the Crystal Ixupi pot.”  
    He smiled at Carl and said, “So we know another Ixupi is here.”  
    He was started to hear Richard say, “And the Fire Ixupi isn’t here.  I just found the Fire pot.”  He then watched as his friend opened the pot, and saw a female spirit escape from inside.  
    Before any of them could react, he heard the spirit say, “Where am I?  Don’t tell me I’m dead.  He was nuts for bringing these things here.”  
    He watched as Richard responded.  “I don’t think he realized someone would open the pots.  One of them got him as well.”  
    Michael then saw a somber look cross the girl’s face.  She then said, “Maybe Merrick shouldn’t have opened them.  Listen, I was trying to solve one of the riddles.  We noticed the pots were shifting all over the place.  Some must have been hidden places we hadn’t figured to get to.  The one riddle I almost solved, but they kept attacking.  Solve the puzzles, and catch them.  It’s the only way.”  He then watched as Carl snapped a picture as the ghost disappeared.  
    He then watched as Richard picked up the pot, and said, “Carl, can you put this with the other one we found.”  He watched as Carl nodded and place the pot with the one that had contained Windlenot’s spirit.  
    When that was done, he looked at the others and said, “Maybe we should get back to the lobby.  We need to figure more things out.”  He saw the other two nod, and then led the way back down to the theater.  
    As they walked, he heard Carl say, “Well, looks like I was right about the Fire Ixupi.  I still think the other teen fell victim to Wood.”  
    As they entered the theater, he heard Richard say, “I’m not sure, Carl.  Maybe it was something that was easy to avoid, but easily forgettable.  I mean, we’ve seen a good deal of wood, but what about jade.”  
    Before he could heard Carl’s argument, he looked at the stage and saw the curtain was still open.  He also noticed something was at the far end.  He walked over to the stage, and got on it.  He walked over to the object, and looked at it again.  He saw the shape of the top, and smiled.   He picked up the pot, and said, “Guys.  I think we have something to celebrate now.”  He then held up the pot, and smiled more when he saw the pictograph for Water on the side of the pot.  Now he could get back what the Water Ixupi took from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally posted up on Fanfiction.net


	7. Revealed Youth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With another Ixupi about to be captured, the trio starts to figure out how they can detect where an Ixupi might be. Also, Michael reflects on his first encounter with Richard.

Chapter 7: Revealed Youth  
  
    Carl Kolchak wasn’t sure what Michael had come upon, but something told him that it was important.  He watched as the boy ran down the stage steps, and headed for the door.  He also noticed that the other boy, Richard, started to follow him.  “Mike, what have you figured out?”  
    He followed, and watch as Michael ran back into the museum lobby, and over to the stone fountain.  As the boy looked it over, Carl was puzzled.  “Michael, what did you figure out?”  
    He watched as the boy continued to search the fountain.  He was stunned when one panel opened up, and he saw Michael do something in the panel.  It was then that he heard the sound of running water.  
    He started to worry, especially when he heard Richard say, “Mike, are you nuts?  After what that one Ixupi did to you, you’re trying to lure it here to finish the job.”  
    He was stunned when he heard Michael say, “No.  Remember how we agreed to let the pots and lids where we found them.  Well, I think we just found a matching pair.  This one that was on the stage in the theater was the Water pot.  After looking at the rim, I think the top part is in the workshop.”  He then watched as the boy headed over to the museum office door.  
    He stepped away from the filling fountain, and watched as Richard followed the African boy.  “Mike, didn’t you say we shouldn’t get out of view of the others.” He watched as Mike nodded, and then heard Richard say, “Good.  I’ll go with you in the office door.  Carl can stand right here near the door.  We keep in each others eyeshot.  We also keep distant from any Ixupi hiding spots.”  
    “Alright, just don’t you get attacked by that Ash one again.  I just wish there was another way we could tell when they are around.”  He then watched as Michael and Richard walked into the office.  
    Carl quickly positioned himself so he could look in the door, and alternatively look out over at the fountain.  When he first looked into the office, he saw Richard standing back away from the fireplace, and noticed that Michael was opening the workshop door.  He then glanced back out to the fountain.  It was full of water now, and something seemed odd about it.  
    He glanced back into the office, and saw Michael was coming out of the workshop.  As the boy headed towards him, he saw him smiling.  “Did it work, Michael?”  
    He watched as both boys nodded and headed back out of the office.  “It did.  When I grabbed the lid, it flew right onto the pot, like it had a mind of it’s own.”  
    He then heard Richard say, “Must be part of an enchantment that was used to hold the Ixupi.”  He noticed that Michael gave Richard an odd look, but decided not to say anything.  
    He then looked over at the fountain, and could have sworn the water didn’t look right.  Carl looked at Michael and said, “Well, any clue how to capture the thing since you got that pot together?”  He watched as the boys looked at each other, and then saw Michael shrug.  
    He then watched as Richard looked at the fountain, and said, “Maybe it’s something like just holding it up.  You know how the movies always show a vampire backing away from a cross.”  
    Carl knew from experience that wasn’t always the case.  “Well, they don’t back away from every cross.  The drawing of a cross can deter them, but the actually thing must be held so it’s face to face.”  He watched as both of them looked at him.  
    He then heard Richard say, “You encountered vampires before.  I remembered reading one of those stories with Yvette.”  He nodded to Richard, knowing the boy was speaking the truth.  
    He was surprised when Michael just stepped forward and said, “Well, I’m just going to do it.  Something seems right about just holding the pot up when the Ixupi attacks.”  He then watched as the boy approached the fountain.  
    His heart filled with apprehension when he saw Michael near it.  He even heard the sound he heard down at the underground lake.  It was a frightening moment, and part of him didn’t want to look.  However, he was a reporter, and he quickly grabbed his Polaroid.  If this worked, he wanted to have a picture of it.  
    Almost as if on cue, the Ixupi leaped from the water, and he was surprised when he flashed the camera.  At the moment, it made a groan in pain, and flew right into the pot.  He then saw green lightning encircle Michael’s body.  It didn’t look painful, but when it cleared, Michael looked like his teenage self.  The Ixupi had been caught, and the one teen was restored.  
    He then heard Richard shout, “Mike, you’re back to normal.  It worked.  Now we need to find the ones that attacked me.”  He watched as the other teen, who looked twenty years older, then ran towards the double door that was to the left of the office door.  “Shall we check out this room now?”  
    He nodded and said, “Might be best.  Just don’t rush in yet.  We need to keep the Water pot safe now.  We don’t know where it goes yet.”  He then turned to Michael.  “Mike, do you want me to keep the pot in the bag with the other stuff.”  
    Michael handed him the pot.  “Yes.  Until we can find where it goes, keep it in that bag.  Something tells me it can only be opened if you do it by hand.  I bet these pots are even unbreakable.”  
    He placed the pot in the bag, and then headed with Michael to the door Richard was in front of.  He noticed that Richard had opened the door, but had not moved.  As he looked in the room, he saw that it was a room devoted to animals.  He started to head towards the door.  “Well, shall we see the animals?”  He waited a moment, and saw that Richard had still not moved, but he also noticed a look of fear on the teen’s face.  
    He watched as Michael looked in the room.  “Oh dear.”  He then watched as Michael turned to Richard and said, “It’s dead, Rich, and it’s in a glass case.  It can’t hurt you.  Now relax.  We don’t need you to freeze up like this.”  Michael then turned to him and said, “Rich is arachnophobia.  I think that large spider is having an effect on him.”  
    Carl looked in the room and saw what Michael was talking about.  He then stepped into the room, and pushed a button on the wall.  Soon a voice was talking about the bizarre creatures in the world.  After a moment, he said, “I think everything is safe in here for now.  You should see some of the things in here.”  
    He watched as Michael came in, followed cautiously by Richard.  It was then that the boy finally spoke.  “I’m alright now.  That big thing was a bit of a scare.  I’ll be fine now that I know it’s here.”  He then watched as Richard started to walk around the room, keeping a distance from the spider.    
    He watched as Michael walked over to the left side of the room, near a replica of a stegosaurus, and what looked like a creature out of Greek Mythology.  He could see Richard was looking at a unicorn statue on the right side of the room.  As for himself, he was standing in front of a large eagle’s nest, which had a dial with four skulls along side of it.  As he looked at the large nest, he noticed something on the floor.  He bent down to look at it, and saw it was an inhaler.  
    He reached down and picked it up.  As he looked it over, he noticed it was a prescription inhaler.  “I think I found the name of the other teen.  Merrick Campbell.  It’s on an inhaler.”  He put back down on the floor, and then looked over and noticed that each of the boys was facing something.  He looked over to Richard who was closest to him, and saw the boy looking at the skull dial.  He walked over to the boy and said, “What is it?”  
    He watched as Richard looked at the dial, and then at the museum brochure.  He then watched as the boy walked over to the dial and turned it.  “This is one of the six items listed in the brochure.  I think we need to set the dial so the skull that lights up to the color in the brochure.”  He then watched as Richard pushed the button in the center of the dial, and saw the top skull glow green.  “See, the brochure shows the skull is supposed to be blue, not green.”  
    He watched as Richard turned the dial, and then looked over as Michael was coming towards them.  As the teen neared, he heard him say, “What did you find over here?  On the other side of the room is a door to another room.”  
    Carl looked at the boy and said, “Well, there is door here as well, and Rich found this skull dial.  He thinks it’s linked to the puzzle mentioned in the brochure.”  
    Once the dial’s top skull glowed blue, he watched as Richard turned and said, “It might help us get out of here.  Now what’s the next course of action.  You are the expert on this situation.”  
    Carl watched as Michael rolled his eyes.  He then looked at the two, and decided to offer a suggestion.  “I don’t know about you two, but I think we should take the door on the left side of the room, near the weird creature.  Something tells me that there is something important in the room.”  He watched as the two teens looked each other, and nodded in agreement.  He then lead the way over to the door, and opened it.  When he saw it open, his first thought was of the place he had gotten the stick that he used to defeat Peramatfait.

* * *

  
  
    Richard Cale was stunned when he saw the room.  It was almost like a greenhouse.  As they all entered, he glanced around, taking in everything he could.  Plants  appeared to be everywhere, and that wasn’t a good thing for him.  It wasn’t that he hated plants, but his nose always closed up.  “May I suggest we don’t spend a lot of time in here.”  
    He watched as Michael headed off to one side, and Carl headed in another direction.  Even from where he stood, near the door, he could tell the room wasn’t very large.  He then noticed a button near the door and pressed it.  He then started to look at the area near the door, as the message played.  
    As it spoke of the hidden lethal nature of plants, he looked at the various pots on the walls by the doors.  He was trying to suppress another fear he had, one spawned by a movie from years back.  He was almost over it when he heard Carl say, “Lethal plants, almost like the tales of man-eating plants that some people told.  Do you think there is some truth to that?”  
    He suppressed a shudder as Michael said, “There are small plants that feed off insects.  One of those plants might be what started the legends.”  He barely heard the statement, because as Michael had started talking, he heard the sound of pouring sand.  
    He glanced over to the side of the room, and saw Michael standing near a huge pile of sand.  That had to be the source of the noise, but nothing was moving.  He saw that Michael had his back to the sand, and he didn’t want an Ixupi to attack his friend from behind.  “Mike, maybe you should get away from the sand.  I think there is an Ixupi in it.”  
    He watched as Mike jumped away from the sand area, and was standing next to Carl.  He watch as his friend and the reporter looked at the sand.  He noticed that Carl seemed to be really looking at it, as if looking for something.  “I think he’s right, Mike.  The sand looks like it has a green tint to it.  I noticed that about the water in the fountain until you had caught the Ixupi.”  
    He then heard Michael say, “It’s probably just the lighting in the room.  All the plant and green could be pulling tricks on your eyes, but I did hear the sand moving.  Maybe you are right about the Sand Ixupi being there.  Rich, maybe we should get out of this room.”  
    Richard nodded in agreement, and then said, “One moment.  There is something we need to get before we head out.”  He looked back at the shelves of pots, and picked up the one that caught his eye before.  It had the pictogram for Ash on it.  He smiled and said, “Now we can head back to the office.  I want to see if our Ash Ixupi friend is in the room.”  
    He then headed to the room door, and opened it.  As they walked through, he stopped for a moment.  From where they stood, they could see the tar pit near the dinosaur statue.  It occupied a lone corner of the room.  Before, when he had glanced at it, it was black.  Now, it had a greenish glow to it, and he could hear the sounds of bubbling tar.  “I think Carl is right about the greenish glow.  It sounds like the Tar Ixupi is in the room now.  I suggest we head straight for the door.”  
    He watched as the other two nodded, and they all headed for the door to the lobby.  He suppressed a shiver when they walked past the giant spider.  It was against nature for spiders to get that big.  He was even sure the spider was a phony, but he wasn’t about to break the case to find out.  
    Soon, they had returned to the office, and he listened.  There was no sounds of bellows, and he looked at the fireplace again.  As he watched, he noticed there was no green glow around the ashes in the fireplace.  Maybe the Ixupi wasn’t in the room, but there was something else in here.  He then said to the others, “Didn’t we find a lid to a pot in here?”  
    He watched as Michael nodded.  “Yes.  It’s in the one desk drawer.  Do you think you found the pot it is the lid for?”  He nodded and went over to the desk.  He opened all the drawers and soon found the lid he was looking for.  He quickly picked it up, but was surprised as it disappeared out of his hand, and fused with the Ash pot that he already held.  
    As he looked at it, he looked at Carl and Mike, and they were dumbstruck.  He realized that Mike had been in so much of a hurry before that he hadn’t noticed what had happened.  He then looked at the others and said, “Looks like the ones who trapped the Ixupi long ago knew what they were doing.”  He then headed back to the door to the lobby.  “Shall we head back to the Animal room and check the other door?”  When they nodded, he led the way back to the other door in the Animal’s room.  He also wondered if the new room might hold another hiding place for the Ash Ixupi.

* * *

  
  
    When they reached the other door in the Animal’s room, Michael McNeal couldn’t believe how unreal this situation kept getting.  It started out being a dare, then getting stuck in an old museum with a friend and a stranger.  Now it had become like a horror movie, or some sort of sick game.  If it hadn’t been for the fact that it was real, he might enjoy it as a game.  He then looked at the others and said, “Shall we find out what’s behind the door?”  
    He watched as both nodded.  He then opened the door, and saw steps heading down to a room themed for underwater.  As they headed down the steps, he pushed a button, and heard the recording speak of legends of the sea, and the mystery of Atlantis.  He then looked through the room, and saw a few things.  Most of them were linked to Poseidon.  He walked up to a statue of Poseidon, and noticed it was holding a globe.  
    As he looked at it, he noticed there were two dials, which appeared to criss cross.  One had numbers marked north and south, and the other had numbers marked east and west.  It was then he had noticed that Richard was behind the statue and looking at something, and that Carl had headed to the far end of the room.  As he looked at the statue, he remembered the recording mentioning Atlantis.  He also started to hear the sound of pouring sand.  He glanced around, and noticed a sand castle.  He didn’t want to get close to it, remembering what had happen to Richard with the Wax Ixupi.  
    He then turn to see Carl looking at a few statues in the far end of the room.  He shouted, “Carl, do you remember seeing anything about the location of Atlantis is Windlenot’s office?”  
    He watched as Carl walked over to him, glancing briefly at the castle, and then looked at the globe with him.  “Yes.  There was something about the location of Atlantis.  In fact, the map seemed to put in the area known as The Bermuda Triangle.”  As Carl watched, he worked the dials until they were almost right.  When he stopped, Carl just said, “I think the right number is a few degrees north of that.”  
    He moved the dial one more time, and was startled when a light focused on a spot on the floor.  He watched as a small circular section rose out of the floor.  He also noticed that the floor was covered with a map of the world.  He also noticed that Richard had come away from behind the statue.  “Now that is better than what I was looking at.  There was apparently a power crystal from Atlantis over there.  What do you think you found with that?”  
    Michael shrugged.  “I don’t know.  We will have to check from the other side.  Just don’t get too close to the castle.  I think the Sand Ixupi is in it.”  
    He then heard Carl say, “I think you are right.  It seems to have a greenish glow to it.”  He shook his head at what Carl said.  How could anyone assume something like that in the room’s color scheme.  He then watched as Richard moved to the other side of the room, and got on the floor by the raised area.  
    He stepped over to the far side and said, “What is it?”  He watched as Richard pulled out some papers and handed them to him.  He looked over the papers, and smiled.  “It’s a map of the museum.  Now we can see where we are going, or at least what the other rooms are.  What else is in there?”  
    He saw Richard looking at something.  “It looks like a pot with the symbol of Thunder and Lightning on it.”  He watched as Richard stood up.  “I guess that means the Lightning Ixupi is still in the museum.”  He then watched as Richard eyes went wide.  “My God, that thing could be anywhere.”  
    Michael knew what Richard meant.  The lights were on, and everything ran on electricity.  The only saving grace for the place was that there were no outside wires from the place.  But that didn’t excuse the fact that they were sitting ducks.  
    Before the panic could fully set in, he heard Carl say, “I wouldn’t be surprised if that one is waiting down in the power room.  I had a run in with something similar back in Chicago.  A hospital had been built on the old stomping grounds, and the creature was feeding on energy.”  
    He then heard Richard say, “Then lets hope we can find another way of telling if one of the Ixupi are waiting, other than sound.  We don’t hear the sound until one of us is close to them.”  He then watched as Richard started to look around the side of the room they were all on.  
    As they looked, he jumped when he heard some music, and turned to see Carl pushing a shell on what looked like an organ.  He watched as Carl stopped touching it.  “I thought I looked like an organ, but I wasn’t sure earlier.  Now why have this organ here?”  
    He was wondering that as well, until he heard strange singing.  He turned to see Richard had pushed a button linked to the statues in the room.  The music sounded eerie, and Richard seemed to be perfectly calm about it.  As the music played, he heard Richard say, “The display says these statues are of the Sirens.  Remember Mike, Odysseus sailed past them before he reached Scylla and Chrybdis.”  
    He did remember that part of the legend.  He was familiar with the story since his project in school.  It was also when he first encountered his friend, Richard Cale.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* * *

  
  
    Michael McNeal had entered the library that day with one task in mind.  Getting all the info he needed to figure out the path of Odysseus.  Ever since he read the story of the legendary hero, he wanted to see if he could figure out the path the ancient figure took.  However, that meant spending a few study halls in the library.  When he had told his friends about it, they had told him not to become like the spooky kids.  He often heard them mock those kids.  Sometimes they would pick on a redheaded girl who always would be in the library during her study hall.  However he knew she wouldn’t be there.  
    As the headed back to the back left corner of the library, he started to wonder about the boy that always hung out with the redhead.  Some of his classmates said the boy would often walk to the old abandoned museum.  That seemed weird to him.  Maybe the boy was one of the people who did those crazy dares he heard others talk of.  
    When he got to the shelves he needed, he was stunned to see no books there.  He wasn’t going to get his project done if none of the books were there.  He then heard a few pages turn.  He looked around the corner of the one bookshelf, and was stunned to see a table full of books, and the boy that hung around with the redhead sitting over them.  He could see the boy was looking at them trying to find something.  
    Well, the boy wasn’t the only one looking for something.  He walked over to the table and said, “Pardon me, could I borrow one of those books for a moment?”  
    He watched as the boy looked up, and smiled.  “Sure.  I was just trying to check all the legends of a great flood.  It’s one of the oddities of Mythology that everyone has a great flood story.  Which book did you need?”  
    Michael was stunned by what the boy said.  He knew the story of the great flood.  What he hadn’t been aware of was that many cultures had a legend about it.  He started to put it out of his mind, remembering what he needed.  “Any of the books that covers Odysseus.”  
    He watched as the boy closed one book, and said, “Well, this one covers a portion of it, but it argues with this one.  Seems they place a couple locations differently.  However, the best one would be this book here.”  
    He grabbed the book the boy offered, but was puzzled by what the boy said.  “Excuse me, but why did you say that...”  He paused, realizing he never asked the boy’s name.”  
    He watched as the boy opened the book to a map drawn on the interior pages and pointed to the tip of Italy.  “This is why.  According to this, this is the straight between Scylla and Chrybdis.  By the way, my name is Richard Cale.”  
    He looked at the map.  “My name’s Michael McNeal.  You mean to say this book says the course is through here.”  He watched the boy nod, and then looked at it.  It was a narrow straight.  A whirlpool on one end would make it even more dangerous.  He was amazed at what the boy had told him.  He then looked at him and said, “Any other insights?”  
    He watched as the boy stood up and said, “Only if you don’t mind hanging out with one of the spooky kids.   Yvette and I usually find all sorts of weird things checking this stuff out.  It’s just a shame that all the books are in the low numbers.  Some of these could be place in other sections.”  As he watched the boy, he thought about things.    
    It was wrong for his friends to pick on Richard, and now that he had a name to go with the redhead, Yvette.  It was also wrong to think that because they were weird, to leave them alone.  He could tell that Richard was a smart kid.  He smiled and said, “Hey Richard, I realize you don’t socialize much, but I’d like to offer to be a friend.”  
    He was glad when the boy nodded.  “That would be cool.  Maybe one day I can introduce you to Yvette as well.  We could always use a few more friends here.  Ones that don’t do dares.”  
    He was stunned by that.  “You mean you don’t do dares.  I thought that was why you kept walking up to the museum.”  He was stunned when Richard shook his head.  He then started to wonder who the real darers were.  It was a sign of stupidity to do a dare.  However, he did wonder why Richard kept walking up there.  “So why do you head up there?”  
    He was stunned when Richard said, “I’ll tell you sometime, Michael.  It’s a bit of local history.”  He then sat down, and started to work on his research, and was thankful for the help of a new friend.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* * *

  
  
    Michael came out of the memory of that day when he heard Richard shouting.  “Michael, I think we should get going.  I want to check the office before we head anywhere else.”  He looked in the direction of the shouting and saw that Richard and Carl were at the door at the top of the steps.  He quickly ran over and followed them out the door.  
    He was surprised that he had missed stuff.  As he followed, he looked at Carl and said, “Why are we heading back to the office.  I remember seeing a passage on the map in the room.”  
    He watched as Carl stepped back and said, “Richard said that too, but he also said a maze was down that way.  It’s probably best we check the rest of the place out, before we venture into a maze.”  He had to admit, there was some sense to it.  
    Before he realized it, they were in the office, and he noticed something he didn’t see the first time they were in the room.  The ashes in the fireplace had a greenish glow.  He then watched as Richard approached the fireplace, and he heard the sound of bellows again.  He watched as Richard then held up the Ash pot, and watched as the Ash Ixupi was sucked into it.  
    He also noticed a flash, and saw Carl had taken another picture.  Afterwards, Carl just said, “Two Ixupi down.  And you look better, Richard.”  He looked up at his friend and agreed.  His friend was now only looking ten years older than he was.  Now, all they had to do was catch eight more Ixupi.  However, he knew that the green glow was another sign that Ixupi were around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally first posted on Fanfiction.net.


	8. Tombs Of Healing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With another Ixupi caught, they begin exploring the museum more, finding out more about it.

Chapter 8: Tombs Of Healing  
  
    Richard Cale couldn’t believe how much better he felt now that he caught the Ash Ixupi.  He returned to the museum lobby, followed by Carl Kolchak and Michael McNeal, and ran over to the fountain.  Since Michael had captured the Water Ixupi, he knew it would be safe to look in the water.  He looked like he wasn’t back to his normal appearance.  He turned to the others and said, “How do I look?”  
    His friend, Michael, just shrugged.  “Honestly, you still look like you did after the first Ixupi attack.  About ten years older than you actually are.”  Richard nodded, but smiled at that statement.  It was a step in the right direction.  
    He then noticed as Carl was looking around the lobby.  He wondered what the reporter was looking for, and then realized that the reporter was looking up to the top of a stairway in the lobby.  He followed the gaze of the reporter, and realized that they had explored all the doors on the ground floor of the lobby.  The next step would be to explore the upper levels.  He was also aware that Carl wasn’t exactly young.  “Worried that there will be a lot of climbing, Carl?”  
    He watched as Carl smiled and said, “No.  Are you kidding?  I handled that clock tower stairway with no problem.  Mind you, I’ve also climbed up the stairs of a forty story building.  I’m sure I can handle a couple of simple stairs like this.”  
    Richard then glanced up the stairs, and above them to the chandelier.  Something seemed odd about it, but he wasn’t sure what it was.  He then said, “Let’s head up then.  It looks like everything is clear up there.”  He then ran forward and climbed up the steps.  
    As he climbed up, he heard the sounds of small crystals tinkling together, like a wind was moving the chandelier.  He reached the top of the steps and backed away from the chandelier, and realized that it had a green tint to it.  There was an Ixupi in the chandelier, most likely the Crystal Ixupi.  He then said to Carl and Michael as they started up, “Be careful, an Ixupi is hiding in the chandelier.”  
    He quickly moved forward to help Carl up the steps, and saw the reporter was starting to appear winded.  He then heard the reporter say, “Either this place suddenly has too many stairs, or I’ve been up too long.”  Richard realized what Carl might be hinting at.  He had lost track of the time they had been in the museum.  Of course, with the Ixupi around the place, he couldn’t fault himself for forgetting.  
    He had finally helped Carl away from the chandelier, and saw Michael near it when it happened.  Michael had turned around to see if he had moved far enough away, and the Ixupi leapt out of the chandelier.  It had blended in perfectly, but now it looked like the chandelier had grown teeth.  He and Carl quickly grabbed Michael, and pulled him forward, but not before his friend had aged ten years.  Instead of looking like his normal self, his friend looked like he was in his mid-twenties.  
    They all waited for the sensation of the attack to pass out of Michael.  As they sat, he looked at Carl and said, “Tell me, Carl, when you had said you climbed all those stairs, why had you done that?”  
    He listened as Carl spoke.  “It happened decades ago.  A rash of jewel thefts were linked to an ancient Native American demon called the Diablero.  The jewels it stole were never found, because the thing had sent them off to the other side.  When I had found the thing, it was on the thirty-ninth floor of a vacant building.  The elevators had only worked up to the fifth floor, so I had to climb up all those stairs.”  
    He then heard Michael start to stir.  “After that Ixupi attacked, I felt like I had done all that climbing.”  He then watched as his friend finally sat up, and punched the floor.  “I can’t believe I let that thing get me.”  
    Richard helped his friend up and said, “It’s not your fault.  Besides, if you hadn’t gotten hit, Carl might have gotten hit.”  He glanced over at Carl, who shivered a bit.  He then said, “We just need to be more careful.  We’ve managed to capture two of the Ixupi, and we know there are more lurking around.  Now, shall we check out the doors over there.”  He motioned to the door that the balcony had led to.  
    As they walked over to it, he noticed that Carl was looking out over the whole lobby.  He looked over the new view of the lobby, and was impressed.  Finally, the awe passed, and they headed towards the door.  
    When they opened the door, he was stunned by the room.  To his left was a large wall that seemed like it was part of an Egyptian tomb.  In the back of the room, he could tell there was a display behind the wall, but to his right, Richard could see a familiar symbol apparently shining on the floor.  Prof. Windlenot had drawn it on the ground, and it was on the book about the Ixupi.  He looked ahead and saw a gold plate on a stand.  He quickly ran over it, and read over what he was looking at.  
    Before he could say anything, he heard a voice come from in the ‘Tomb of the Ixupi’, as the display was called.  “Hey Rich, it looks like this room is devoted to the Ixupi.”  As he walked into the ‘Tomb’, he looked around and saw thirteen stands, each with a shape for each vessel to contain the Ixupi.  He also noticed the relief painted on the back wall.  As he looked over what everything meant, he heard Mike remark, “This is creepy.  It looks like some deity sent them out.  Do you really think it called them Ixupi?”  
    He then heard Carl say, as the reporter entered the ‘Tomb’, “Probably.  While we might not think the names make any sense, they have meaning.”  He then watched as Carl looked around at the displays, and said, “Maybe we can place the pots here.  It can’t be safe to carry them all around.”  
    He thought about it.  Carl had a point, and the Ixupi didn’t seem to show any way of being able to transport a vessel.  He nodded and said, “Yes.  Let’s place the ones we’ve captured, as well as the one’s that held Beth and Prof. Windlenot.  We’ll just have to check in on them from time to time.”  They place the four pots in the room on their matching podiums.  
    When they left the display, he noticed something on the wall by the plate.  Richard didn’t understand why he hadn’t noticed it before, but it was one of the skull dials.  He opened the brochure he had grabbed earlier, and turned the dial until the glowing skull matched the brochure.  When he was done, he looked up to see Carl had now moved back to the door, and pushed a button on the wall.  Soon, a narrative about tombs and quests to secure their places in the afterlife played.  
    By the time the audio finished, he looked around to see Michael had moved to the back of the room, where there were other displays.  He walked over to where his friend was standing, and realized what had captivated his friend.  The display in the room was that of a sphinx facing a sarcophagus.  
    They all walked over to the display, and he looked up at the sphinx, as Carl and Michael looked the sarcophagus.  As he looked at it, he noticed there seemed to be a visible mouth area, and a button seemed to be near it.  He then heard Carl say, “Hey Michael, this might be another puzzle of sorts.  These parts of the pillars move.”  He glanced back to see the two turning parts of the pillars.  
    He then looked at the sphinx again, and looked down at the floor.  He could see an obvious discoloration at the base.  He pushed the area, and wasn’t surprised when a small step slid out of the display.  He then climbed up the step, and pushed the button. He almost jumped back when the sphinx spoke aloud.  “The names of the heretics will be forever stricken from the face of history.”  
    Richard quickly stepped down, and turned to face the others.  As he stood there, Michael looked at the pillars and said, “What’s that supposed to mean?  Are we supposed to find the names of the ones the Inquisition hunted down?”  
    He watched Carl look at the pillars.  “I don’t think so.  I think the Inquisition came long after the time of the Pharaohs.”  
    Richard closed his eyes for a moment, and tried to remember everything he had seen.  He then remembered that in the Egyptian book, there was the names of a Pharaoh and his queen who had tried to convert Egypt into a one deity culture.  He quickly pulled out the note pad, and turned it to the images.  “It means heretics to the deities the Egyptians worshiped.  These two were the heretics.  We need to get their names on the obelisks.”  
    He watched as Carl and Michael turned the pieces, and soon the sarcophagus opened.  They all looked in, and weren’t surprised to see a pot with the icon for wood on the side.  When the all leaned back, he heard Carl say, “Well. we found another pot.  Shall we take it with us?”  
    Richard shook his head.  “No.  Let’s leave it here.  At least here we know where it is.”  He then glanced off to his left, and saw a small path leading to another display.  From what he could tell, it was a display of a low ranking tomb, for poor Egyptians.  He noticed the rags in the tomb, but something told him there was more to it than that.  He then walked back to large tomb front in the side of the room, and noticed something odd.  
    There had been a door up the steps.  He walked up the steps, and noticed a sliding panel on the door, which hid a puzzle.  When the panel opened, he saw twenty five rotating panels, and something told him when he had them all right, they could continue.  He then started to work on opening the door.

* * *

  
  
    Michael McNeal watched as his friend started working on the door panel.  He was still shaken up about what had happened at the chandelier, but he knew he would get what he lost back.  He then glanced over at the mural of the pyramids.  For a minute, he froze.  He wasn’t sure why, but something about the image gave him a feeling of foreboding.  It was as if fate was trying to tell him something.  
    He was almost lost in that thought, when Carl said, “Hey Michael, are you all right?  You seemed lost for a moment.”  
    He looked at the reporter, and smiled.  “I’m all right.  I think my mind just wandered for a moment.  Maybe it’s lack of sleep.”  
    He watched as Carl nodded and said, “I’d wager it is.  When you don’t sleep, or are afraid to, your mind starts playing tricks on you.  However, I won’t tell you about the one time I had to be careful about going to sleep.  Besides, I think Richard just opened the door.”  
    He glanced up at the door, and saw Richard standing next to it, and the door was open.  “Voila, the way is open.  Now I think it’s time to move on.”  He then watched as his friend looked in the door, and then back at them.  “You know, all of a sudden, I feel like I’m one of the people who found Tut’s tomb.”   
    As they all went down the steps, they heard  the door behind them close.  “Must have been set to close once people were clear of it.”  He looked back as Carl stepped back up, and pushed a button almost invisible in the shadows.  Soon the door opened again.  “Best we know where the button is again.”  
    When they reached a landing, Michael pushed another button, and they were greeted by the automated voice saying about man’s fascination with death.  When the voice finished, he looked over at his friend.  “One of the people who found Tut’s tomb.  What an odd choice of words.”  
    He watched as Richard shrugged and said, “Well, with the motif of the last room, it seemed fitting.  Besides, it not like we we’ll find a corpse down here.”  He wondered if his friend would be right.  They had found one corpse, and two spirits of the three who had been lost in the museum years ago.  
    When they reached the bottom of the steps, he heard Carl say, “That would be wishful thinking.  But if I’m remembering right, there were three people, and we seen the spirits of two of them, and the corpse that went with the one.  That means there are two corpses left to find, and one spirit.  I think it would be safe to say we can’t rule anything out yet.”  He then watched as Carl walked around the room, stopping to look in what looked like a hut.  
    He then noticed as Richard walked over to what looked like a ship, and saw his friend was turning another skull dial.  He then walked and started to look over some of the other items in the room.  
    He noticed that Carl has stepped over and stopped at something on the floor.  It had been near what looked like a decorative coffin.  As he approached where Carl was standing, he noticed something about the elaborate thing across from the coffin.  He kneeled down, and examined the base as Carl said, “I think I just found Merrick’s diary.”  He glanced back as Carl started to page through it.  “Looks like the boy was a bit obsessed with Professor Windlenot, and the museum.  It even has info about the night they came here in it.”  
    As he heard Carl continuing to page through the diary, he pushed something on the base, and was stunned when a small drawer came out.  He glanced at it, almost surprised that he was looking at an IQ puzzle.  It was the one where the task was to remove all the pegs, leaving one in the center.  He then looked up and saw Richard was standing next to Carl, with his back to the coffin.  He quickly got up, and looked at the two.  “Hey guys, I think I just found another puzzle.  It might open another door, or reveal another hidden item.”  
    He then saw Richard smile and lean back.  “Then solve it, Mike.  I think it’s more likely to reveal something, since the doors are right in front of us.”  He was startled when Richard start to lose his balance, since the lid of the coffin moved.  He quickly helped keep his friend from slipping into the coffin, but realized that wasn’t a worry.  The coffin was already filled with a withered corpse.  
    He could see Richard wasn’t ready for that, since his friend moved behind the coffin.  He then looked at Carl, who was now looking at the corpse. “Is it Merrick?”  
    He watched as Carl looked over the body, before finally hearing the response.  “Yes.  I mean these cloths on the corpse look like a guy’s clothing, and the other spirit was a girl.  Of course, that doesn’t answer which Ixupi killed him.”  
    Michael was stunned when Richard said, “It was the Jade Ixupi.”  He went to ask how his friend knew that, when his friend held up a green skull.  “I think he thought of carrying this as a weapon.  He probably didn’t realize it was hiding in this.”  He then watched as Richard put it down again.  “Maybe we should get out of this room as soon as possible.”  
    He looked back at the puzzle, and said, “Give me one moment, Rich.  I think this puzzle hides something.”  He started doing the puzzle, watching each peg disappear as he jumped it.  He had done this puzzle many times, and had memorized the ways to beat it.  Soon after starting it, he finished it, and the panel closed.  
    As it closed, another one opened, and he looked in it.  Contained in the hidden drawer was another pot.  He looked at it, and smiled when he saw the picture on it.  “Rich, I think I just found the pot to hold the other Ixupi that attacked you.”  
    He heard his friend say, “Leave it there for now.  Once we know where they all are, we can just run through and catch them all.”  He then got up and headed over to the door, where both Carl and Richard were waiting.  It was time to move on to the next room.

* * *

  
  
    When Michael had joined them, Carl Kolchak turned around and opened the door to the next room.  Instantly, they were greeting by the recording of some sort of chanting.  When they stepped further into the room, he saw figurines to his right, and a mock hut to his left.  He moved to the left, and said, “Let’s head this way.”  
    As they all done so, Carl froze.  A couple of thoughts ran through his mind at this moment.  The first was that the room was a dead end, but he quickly dismissed it.  If the room was a dead end, then the cameras showed rooms that were inaccessible.  Second was the fact that he saw footprints on the floor.  That meant that someone, most likely one of the two teens from years ago, passed through the wall on the far side, which told him there was a door there.  
    The last thing in his mind was a story from decades ago.  Seeing the figure next to drums somehow reminded him of the zombie killings.  Part of him expected the figure to advance, while another part of him remember the voodoo priestess that had summoned the zombie.  As he stood there, remembering how close he came to losing his life that day, he heard Michael say, “Something wrong, Carl?”  
    It was enough to break him out of those memories.  He glanced at the African-American boy and said, “Just reflected back on another case for a moment.  I’ll be fine.  Do either of you see any clues on how to get out of this room, other than heading back?”  
    He watched as Michael looked over at the drums, while Richard looked opposite of the drums.  He noticed the boy was looking up, and then glanced in the same direction.  He saw scaffolding in the room.  Something told him that was a clue to getting out, maybe a secret panel in the ceiling, but he then noticed Richard looking over at Michael and the drums.  
    He noticed that Michael had looked at Richard at the same moment.  “You’ve noticed something, didn’t you?”  When the boy nodded, he heard Michael say, “Are you going to tell us.”  
    He watched as Richard walked over to the figure and pulled something out of its hands.  It looked like a hammer, and then watched as Richard looked over the drums again.  He watched as Richard hit each drum once, and head each one make a different sound.  He then said, “The drums are the key.  We just need the right tune, and I think we all saw it on the monitors.”  
    It was then it hit him.  The scaffolding they had seen before from the top, in the tower monitors.  He quickly pulled out his note book, and paged through it.  “He’s right.  In order to open the wall, you just have to play the tune....now where was it.”  He kept turning pages, and stopped.  “Ramta Boba Taramba.  That’s the tune.”  
    He watched as Richard then swung the hammer, hitting each drum in order.  As he hit each drum, he heard the boy say, “I want to bang on the drum all day.”  In that moment, he could help but laugh at the boys choice of words.  
    He watched as Michael laughed a bit, and then heard the boy say, “I think we needed that, now open the door, Rich.”  Soon, he heard the wall slide open.  
    As the wall slid, he heard Richard say, “Ask and ye shall receive.”  He saw a mischievous grin cross the boy’s face.  He then watched as Richard returned the hammer, and saw the boy look into the room.  The boy stepped back for a moment, and said, “I don’t like the look of that room.  It might be the snake in there.”  
    Carl watched Michael look into the room, and then did the same.  When he saw the large snake along the far wall, he jumped back.  He shook his head for a moment, and then said, “Well, it may look imposing, but we need to go in there.  Right now, we need to keep moving forward, and hopefully find all the pots to catch the Ixupi.”  He then led the way into the next room, and hoped that this next room didn’t hide any Ixupi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter had been first posted up on Fanfiction.net


	9. Gods And Demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the trio makes its way farther into the museum, they find more things to help them achieve their goals. Outside the museum, concern for them is mounting in the ones who know them.

Chapter 9: Gods And Demons  
  
    Michael McNeal entered the room, following Carl Kolchak.  At first, the snake had startled him, but he had gotten past it.  As Carl and Richard Cale looked at various displays, he pressed the button by the door.  He quietly listened as the recording mentioned that the displays were devoted to many of the theological beliefs that people had in the past.  
    However, as it continued, he started to feel disturbed.  The recording had mentioned how some believed in blood thirsty gods.  It boggled his mind how people could believe in such a diabolical concept.  When the recording finally finished, he was stunned.  “How could anyone believe that?”  
    He turned and saw Carl come from around a corner.  “Believe what?”  He looked over at the man, who by his own claims, had encountered many unusual things.  He wondered if Carl was likely to believe what the recording had said.  
    “The recording for this room said that people used to believe in blood thirsty gods, ones that demanded human sacrifices.”   He heard Carl chuckle at that, almost like he thought the very thought was humorous.  “Do you honestly think its funny?”  
    He was stunned when Carl shook his head, mainly because of the words Carl said.  “No.  It’s your reaction.  Many cultures had believed in ancient gods and goddesses.  Some were even more blood-thirsty than others.  What do you know about Greek Mythology?”  
    Michael stopped for a moment and thought.  He knew a few of the stories.  Some had even been mentioned in his one World Literature class, but other than that, he didn’t bother to find out more.  He had been interested in the stories of Odysseus and Heracles, but those were about it.  “Not much.  I just stuck with the stories of the heroes.”  
    He heard Carl chuckle at that.  “I think everybody knows of those.  You probably even know enough to know some of the main Pantheon.  However, have you ever heard of the goddess Hecate?”  He shook his head, and saw Carl was about to answer that question.  
    Before Carl could say a single word, he heard Richard shout from around the corner.  “Hecate was one of the more dangerous goddesses.  Very vengeful.  I think there are some tales were some women had made ‘deals with the devil’ with her.”  He noticed Carl pointed behind him, and nodded.  
    Michael then closed his eyes and shook his head.  “Don’t tell me you encountered her?  She can’t be real.”  
    Carl just nodded.  “Every legend is based off a grain of truth.  Luckily, my encounter hadn’t been with her directly, especially since I destroyed a temple to her.  She had bigger fish to fry.”  
    Before he could even mention another thing, he heard Richard shout from around a corner.  “Hey, you two better get over here.  I found another skull dial.”  Michael inwardly cursed as both he and Carl started to run over to where they heard Richard’s voice.  He wondered if Richard had forgotten that they should stick together.  
    When they finally reached him, Michael was surprise at what he saw.  His friend was turning another skull dial that was next to a giant head with two faces.  They appeared to look in opposite directions, and he couldn’t tell which one was the main face.  
    When his friend stopped turning the dial, he heard him say, “That is Janus.  The god of beginnings and endings.  However, the plaque says it’s from Celtic folklore, but I believe he was Roman.”  
    He heard Carl laugh, and then saw the reporter look at the plaque.  “Well, they can’t all be perfect.  He might have been wrong about the basilisk fragments as well.  Heck, even deities make mistakes.”  
    It was then that Michael noticed the door to his right.  As he looked over the red double doors, he quickly tried the handles.  He wasn’t surprised when they didn’t open, but he did notice a small panel on the wall by the door.  
    When he pushed it, he wasn’t surprised to see it open, revealing a panel, and about twenty or so pieces of a puzzle.  He glanced at it, and then at the door.  “Another one of those puzzle locks.  Think you two might have a clue on how to open it?”  
    He stepped back as both Carl and Richard walked over.  He watched as Richard took a closer look at the puzzle, while paging though all the things they had found.  Finally, he watched as Richard waved Carl back.   “This is related to the image in Beth’s address book.  Give me a moment to figure it out.”  
    He watched as Carl moved back to where he was standing.  He then watched as Richard started to move the pieces in to place.  As his friend worked, he could tell that the long night was taking a toll on him.  He was even starting to feel fatigued.  He glanced at Carl for a moment.  “Hey Carl, what was the deal with Hecate?”  
    He heard Carl give a chuckle.  “Well, long story short, a dating group had been formed in Chicago a few decades ago.  It had been formed by Helen of Troy, who managed to stay young by making a deal with Hecate.  By the time I had found out, she was going to have Hecate take my life, but I told her the one sacrifice she set up wasn’t perfect.  Turns out Hecate turned Helen to stone for that.”  
    Michael felt his eyes go wide at that information.  It was proof of a vengeful deities existed.  He wasn’t sure what to think after that, but he was glad he didn’t have to.  When Carl had finished his tale, he noticed that the red double doors had opened up.  However, he noticed a stunned look on Richard’s face, as if his friend had just noticed something behind them.  
  
    Carl Kolchak started to worry when he saw the look on the face of Richard Cale.  He was familiar with it from the many times he had seen it on other faces.  It was a look of utter disbelief.  However, when ever he knew it crossed his face, it meant that something dangerous was coming towards him.  Of course, not seeing it was both a comfort, and a danger.  He quickly turned around, hoping that none of the Ixupi were behind him.  
    He was thankful when all he saw behind them was a large shrine like structure.  None of them had noticed it when they entered this part of the room, but then again, they were only focused on the door, and displays near the door.  He snapped a quick picture with his instamatic camera, and then said, “Any clue what’s in that?”  
    He watched as Richard Cale stepped forward and said, “No, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we find one of the Ixupi pots in there.”  He then watched as the teenager was about to rush forward into the place, but saw the other teen grab his arm.  He watched as Richard looked at Michael, and then nodded.  “I almost forgot.  We should stick together.”  
    He saw Michael nod.  “Yes.  Until we catch more of those Ixupi, and learn where they are hiding, we should stick together.”  Carl noticed that Michael seemed to wince a bit everything he mentioned the Ixupi, as if he didn’t believe that was their name.  
    He then stepped up behind the teens.  “Alright, let’s check that shrine area out, and then check what’s beyond the red door.”  They all walked forward, and into the door of the shrine-like display.  
    Carl could see there were two main items in the display.  The first was a big thing that looked similar to a harp.  The second was what looked like a statue of a bull.  He walked over to it, and saw it had what appeared to be a blanket over it.  He walked over, and rapped on the blanket.  What he heard, when he did that, was a hollow sound.  He took a closer look at the bull, and noticed that the blanket appeared to be separate from the bull.  
    When he tried to lift up the blanket, he wasn’t totally surprised when he couldn’t lift it up.  He then glanced down, and saw what appeared to be some cords between the two things.  The two were obviously linked together.  He turned to face the two teens, but was surprised when he heard a tone come from the harp.  “Hey, I think these two things are linked.”  
    He heard another tone come from the harp, and watched as Richard tried to mimic the tune.  Soon, all the harp cords were going off.  He looked and saw Richard shake his head.  “I hate puzzles that are follow the leader.  Especially like this.”  
    He saw Michael look at the frustrated teen.  “Richard, haven’t you done puzzles like this before, in that one game you have?”  
    Richard shook his head, and Carl could tell that the teen was sure of that.  “That one is picking out tones.  This one is playing them out, and remembering them.  If it was like Simon, I might be able to do it.”  
    He had to admit that it did seem difficult.  He then watched as the African-American teen stepped up to the harp, saying, “Let me give it a try then.”  He then watched the flustered teen step back, taking off the glasses he wore to rub his eyes.  
    Carl stepped next to the boy.  He waited until the boy had put his glasses back on before he spoke.  “You know, I may not know much about puzzles like this, but it seems to me that anything that seems mysterious has a lot to figure out in it.  They aren’t always easy to solve.”  
    He watched as Richard looked at him.  In the background, they both heard the ever expanding tune from the harp.  The boy then sighed.  “I’m always interested in a mystery.  It’s part of what got Yvette and I together.  We would spend hours trying to figure out mysteries like the Loch Ness Monster, The Bermuda Triangle, and various legends.  It’s also why she had been reading your stories.”  
    Carl had to blink when he heard that.  He remembered the boy mentioning about the stories before, but he was even more curious now than he was before.  “Richard, how exactly did you two get to read my stories?”  
    As the harp tune continued to lengthen, Richard closed his eyes as he thought about it.  “Well, Yvette first got the stories before we met.  Her Uncle Ron, who works with you, said he could get her many stories about strange and unusual things.  He even said that when it came down to it, they were done by a good reporter, who had a remarkable instinct.”  
    Carl had to laugh at that.  To be honest, he and Ron never had a amicable work relationship.  They didn’t truly hate each other, and they weren’t real rivals, so it was surprise that Ron would actually talk nice about him.  It just seemed out of place for the man.  
    Before he could question Richard any more about the topic, he heard a joyous sound coming from the harp.  He looked up to see Michael smiling at them.  “The tune didn’t make sense in the end, but I solved the puzzle, and look.”  
    He turned around in time to see the blanket rising up.  The action revealed what looked like the top of one of the Ixupi pots.  His thoughts were confirmed when Richard look at the top and said, “I think that the top of the Wax pot in that puzzle in the Funeral Rites room.”  
    A thought crossed Carl’s mind at that moment.  He looked at Richard, remembering how the Ixupi attacks had cause premature aging on each of the teens.  “Hey, if you want to go back and put the thing together so you can catch the Wax Ixupi, we can do that.”  
    He watched as Richard shook his head, and he then heard Michael say, “Right now, we should continue the plan.  Besides, once we know where every pot and it’s matching lid is, we can handle things in a more efficient way.”  
    Carl couldn’t argue the logic in the choice.  He then motion to the doors, which lead to the next section of the museum.  “Well, let’s head to what’s beyond the red door.”  He watched the others nod, and then they all headed through the red door that had been opened earlier.  
    One of the first things Carl noticed in the room was book bag on the floor.  He reached down and picked it up, and glanced at the books.  One he noticed was about Ancient Astronauts.  He briefly remember a story he followed about aliens, mainly ones you couldn’t visibly see.  
    He looked up from the book, and turned to tell the two teens about it.  He stopped when he saw them looking at some sort of elaborate device.  He then saw one of them push a button, and music started to play.  He also heard some gears turning, and wondered if the thing was a music box.  Those thoughts stopped the second he saw Richard Cale jump back in fright of something.  
  
    Richard Cale jumped back when he saw the spider scurry across the stage.  When Michael had told him it was the one the jukebox had mentioned, he forgot about the spider being related to it.  The sudden appearance of the spider made him jump back in fright.  It was also then he realized that Carl had come up behind him.  That didn’t scare him, mainly because so far the Ixupi only attacked head on.  
    As the music played, he saw a curtain on the device go up, and was stunned by what he saw.  Before he could say anything, he heard Carl say, “Richard, are you ok?  Did an Ixupi attack?”  
    Richard shook his head, and he heard Michael answer the questions.  “No, I think he just reacted to Anansi the spider.  Remember his fear.”  He glanced back to see Carl nod, and then realized that Michael was now looking at the object that was behind the curtain.  “Damn, I think we just found another lid.”  
    He looked at it, just as the others gazed in awe at it.  Just from a glance, he could tell they hadn’t seen its shape before.  In fact, it didn’t appear to match up with any Ixupi pot that they had seen so far.  It was a complete unknown to them.  Carl finally broke the silence.  “Any idea what that may be for?”  
    Richard stepped back, and shook his head.  He then looked past Carl and Michael, and his attention was drawn to two items in the back of the room.  One was a Egyptian sarcophagus.  Something told him to open it, and he was sure their wasn’t a real mummy in the sarcophagus.  
    As he headed for the sarcophagus, he noticed that Carl and Michael were gazing at the snake statue that was near it.  He glanced briefly at it, and a feeling crossed his mind that an Ixupi might be lurking in it. When he reached the case, he looked at the two and said, “Don’t get too close.  I feel that might be the hiding spot of an Ixupi.”  Both stopped, and looked at him.  The thought must not have crossed their minds.  
    He then opened the sarcophagus, and jumped back when a skeleton fell out of the casket.  He wondered if it had been rigged to do that, but he quickly put that out of his mind.  What now occupied his thoughts was the lid on the bottom of the casket.  He kneeled down, and looked at it.  
    Carl was the first one looking over him.  “Did you find another lid?”  
    Richard just nodded.  Michael walked over to his side and looked down at it.  “Hey, doesn’t that shape of the lid look familiar?”  He nodded again, and Michael said what he suspected.  “It fits the one we saw in the library.”  
    He got up, and said, “Yes.  When we go back down there, we might want to grab them.”  He then looked through the door to his left and said, “Let’s check out the next room.  It looks like it’s full of items of folklore.”  
    They started heading through the door, and were amazed at what they saw.  There was a likeness of a Cyclops in the room, and what looked like a lifelike Pegasus.  Judging by the wood laying next to some of the statues, they must have been unpacked before the Ixupi had escaped.  
    They continued through the door near the cyclops, and he felt Carl freeze, as if the reporter had seen something from a nightmare.  He quickly glanced around the room, until Michael said, “Damn, that werewolf is almost realistic.”  
    The reporter started to move, but kept a wary eye on the statue.  “Almost realistic, that’s what they really look like.”  He heard Michael stifle a laugh, but he remembered reading that tale.  It was one of Yvette’s favorites.  A werewolf lurking on a cruise ship seemed a bit funny, since it wasn’t where one figured a werewolf would be, but he pushed that out of his mind.  
    What entered his mind was the dial next to the werewolf.  He ran over to the dial, despite Carl urging him to be careful.  As he started to turn the dial, he said, “Carl, I know you’ve seen one of these up close, but the dial is the important thing.  After this one, there is only one more left to find.”  Of course, he wasn’t sure where that one was, but he was sure it was in a room they hadn’t seen yet.  
    Once the dial was turned, he turned around, and saw a normal door.  It was near a mural of a vampire.  He looked at the others and said, “Should we leave the room?”  
    Both nodded, and Michael said, “Yea.   I think this particular room isn’t Carl’s favorite place.”  He noticed how the reporter seemed to be staring at the mural, and decided not to ask, or point out anything.  He quickly opened the door, and was thankful when he saw a normal hallway.  Almost instantly, he started to wonder how everyone was reacting at home.  
  
**************************  
  
    Yvette Davidson sat in the room, and tried to stay awake as her Uncle Ron talked about the stories he covered.  She wished her uncle would cover more stories like his fellow reporter, Carl Kolchak, would cover.  Those were always more interesting than some flower show, or some social event.  She was initially thankful when her mother called her out of the room.  She left the room, and headed over to her mother.  “What did you want, Mom?”  
    Her mother looked a bit worried.  “Yvette, Mrs. Cale just called.  She wondered if Richard was here.  Did he stop by?”  
    She shook her head, and started to worry.  “He hasn’t been here.  I thought he would be home by now.  He usually walks up to the old museum on Friday.”  She didn’t want to tell her mother that she might have gone up their with him tonight if her Uncle Ron hadn’t shown up.  
    The worry on her mother’s face deepen.  “I hope he’s all right then.  Maybe he met up with that other friend of yours, Michael.”  The thought did cross her mind, but she doubted it.  Outside of school, Michael was usually with the others, who thought she and Richard were ‘spooky’.  
    She then remembered something for a moment.  She had thought she heard a bell toll earlier.  The sound seemed faint, but irregular.  She looked at her mother and said, “Mom, I might have the number of one of Michael’s friends.   Let me check in my room.”  
    When her mother nodded, she ran up the steps, and went right to her room window.  The window of her room looked right at the clock tower of the old Windlenot museum.  She had even shown Richard the view once.  However, this time, the view was different.  She never remembered the clock changing once, but now it had changed.  Instead of reading 12:00, it read 5:30.  It was then she realized that Richard wasn’t home, but might be in the museum.  However, the big question was how he ended up in there.  
    Before she went down, she stopped.  How could she be sure Richard had ended up in the museum.  No one had ever entered the museum before.  She thought about it for a moment, and decided to hope for the best.  She then grabbed the number of one of Michael’s friends, a girl named Paige, and hoped she could tell her that they knew where Richard was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally posted up on fanfiction.net under my original name.


	10. Hidden Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio move further into the museum, discovering a room that is a death trap, and another set of secret passages in the museum.

Chapter 10: Hidden Secrets  
  
    Carl Kolchak was thankful that they entered a normal hallway.  The past few rooms had brought back many memories, and not all of them were pleasant.  The rooms had reminded him of two vampire encounters, one werewolf encounter, and brought back memories of encounters with ancient deities.  Most of those resulted in his story being rejected, at the least.  At the worst, he had been banned from a few cities.  The longer this night went, he was sure he might end up banned from this small town as well.  
    With that in his mind, he started to wonder how the two teens would be received when they finally got out of the museum.  From what he had gathered, Richard was already a social outcast, and Michael was one of the few people who would try to find a reason for whatever happened.  At least, he’d try to find a scientific explanation.  In Carl’s experience, that rarely happened.  
    He was brought out of his musings when Michael spoke.  “Well, we have two choices; left towards the end of the hall, or right towards some stairs.  Which way should we go?”  Carl glanced in both directions.  If they went to the left, they would come to a door, and if they went to the right, they would climb some stairs with an apparent space theme.  Something told him that they should make sure they had seen the whole floor before continuing up to the next floor.  
    Carl wasn’t surprised when Richard made his choice.  “I think we should check the door out.  We shouldn’t head to the next floor until we have checked this floor out in it entirety.”  Richard’s logic was the same as his.  “Besides, we might find something important in there.”  Richard has struck another point, one he hadn’t thought of.  
    Carl walked over to the door, and opened it.  Part of him was disappointed, and another part was relieved.  It appeared to be a janitor’s room.  He slowly entered the room, and could hear one of the boys following him in.    
    As he moved towards the back of the room, he noticed all the things that would be found in a janitor’s room.  However, one thing seemed to draw his attention.  In the back of the room, on a table, was a pile of rags.  Something about how they were piled brought one thought to his mind.  Something was hidden under the rags.  
    He was almost next to them when he felt a hand on his shoulder.  He glanced back to see it was Richard holding him.  Even thought the boy was in his teens, the Ixupi attacks had aged him.  However, with the older appearance, Carl could see that the boy would have a presence that would command respect.  “I think there is something lurking in those rags.”  
    Carl wanted to tell the boy he thought that something was under the rags, but listened for a moment.  It was in that moment that he heard the sound of what had to be ripping fabric.  He started to back away from the rags, now noticing the green tint to them.  “You are on to something, Rich.  Maybe it would be best if we came back to this room when we are better prepared.”  
    As they backed out of the room, he heard Richard agreeing with him.  “Indeed, but this seems to tell me something about the Ixupi.”  Carl wanted to hear that thought, but decided not to, at least until they were out of the room.  Even at his age, he wasn’t sure if he could survive more than one Ixupi attack.  
    When the door to the janitor’s room closed, Carl turned to face Richard.  “What did you learn?  Something about how these things think?”  He wasn’t stunned when Richard nodded.  
    Michael, who had remained outside the door, looked at the two of them.  “Is this something that can help us defeat them?”  This time, Carl was surprised when Richard nodded.  
    Carl devoted his attention to the Caucasian youth, who didn’t look that young right now, and turned on his tape recorder.  “So what did you figure out?”  
    He watched as the lad leaned against the wall.  He understood why the boy was doing that.  It had to be close, if not past, midnight.  “The Ixupi know that we’ll try and catch them.  So, if they have moved the pots and lids all over the place, then they know we’ll hunt them down.”  
    Carl nodded, even though that fact was obvious.  “I think we were all aware of that, Richard.  Did you notice something else?”  
    Richard nodded again, and looked back at the door.  “Yes.  One of the pots or lids is hidden under those rags, and being guarded by the Cloth Ixupi.  If one tries to get it without catching the Cloth Ixupi, they walk into an ambush.”  Carl saw the logic in what Richard was saying, even though they had been up at least half the night.  
    He then heard Michael say, “What if what the Cloth Ixupi is hiding is something needed to catch it?  Then we might not be able to catch it.”  Carl had to admit that could be a possibility, but it didn’t seem possible.  
    Carl could tell Richard was thinking that possibility over, when something hit him.  “It won’t be hiding either part of the pot to catch it.  They are bound to the things until they take a person’s essence.  Maybe it’s one of those that could be very dangerous if it got out.”  
    He watched as Richard Cale started towards the stairwell they had seen.  As the lad reached Michael, he heard Michael say, “Good grief, that makes sense.  If the Cloth Ixupi were to get out, everyone who wears clothing would be at risk.  That would be disastrous.”  
    He and Michael followed Richard up the steps, as the other teen spoke.  “That would suggest that the Ixupi have some sort of hierarchy.  Of course, that would mean that there would be a leader to the Ixupi.”  
    The question went unanswered for a moment, as they all reached the top of the steps, and entered a room full of space themed exhibits.  However, what stunned them most was the large solar system model, and the detailed space map on the domed ceiling.  For a brief moment, Carl had a flashback to the invisible aliens that had invaded Chicago.  He repressed the memory, and hoped that the room would remain on the safe side.  
  
    Michael McNeal could not believe everything that was in the space themed room.  Some of the exhibits, which included the solar system model dominating the center of the room, and a flying saucer, fit in with the space theme.  However, the model of Stonehenge didn’t seem to fit with the theme.  
    As the three of them walked around the room, he could see that Richard was speechless.  He turned towards Carl, and saw the man looking at what appeared to be a space suit.  “Hey Carl, any idea why some of these items are in displayed in here?”  
    He watched as Carl glanced over at Stonehenge.  “Well, I know for a fact that there is still some debate about how and why it was built.  Some theories seem to think that aliens helped in some way, or that Stonehenge was a beacon to aliens.  There have been tons of discoveries that lead people to think aliens got involved with our ancient ancestors.”  
    Michael shook his head as he tried to comprehend the idea.  It didn’t sound like something a normal person would think up, but more like the ramblings of someone who hadn’t had enough sleep.  Ever since they had entered the museum, they had literally lost track of time.  
    Before he could finally respond to Carl’s comment, he heard Richard say, “You mean like the Nazca Lines in Peru?”  He heard a slight sound of disapproval come from his friend as he asked.  He turned to see Richard opening a square panel on a circular stand.  “I find it hard to believe that aliens came down and helped the ancient cultures.  It doesn’t make any sense.”  
    Michael was glad that Richard agreed with him.  It made him feel better since he had no idea how long they had been awake.  “He has a point there, Carl.  Why would aliens come down to help the ancient civilizations?  It makes no sense at all.”  
    He saw Carl walk over to the solar system model, and point to the planet Earth.  “Then answer this.  From the ground, the Nazca Lines make no sense at all.  Once you get into the air, you see they make shapes.  You can’t say that it doesn’t mean anything.  And look at the pictures from the one book we found.  Four cultures had images of flying space craft and their occupants.”  
    He glanced over at Richard, wondering what his friend would say to that.  Richard wouldn’t dismiss something like that.  He had remembered during one of their days in the school library, how they discussed about the multiple great flood stories.  He wondered if Richard might agree that the idea was plausible, even though he wasn’t sure if he agreed with it because of lack of sleep.  
    Michael was surprised when his friend finally spoke.  “Carl, do you remember which four cultures had images in that book?”  He glanced over at his friend, and was stunned to see Richard had fully opened the square panel.  Inside it, he could see twelve panels, each with a drawing on it.  
    He then saw Carl had pulled out the notebook that they had marked down things in.  After flipping through the pages, Carl finally answered the question.  “Nazca, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and China.  Pretty far away from each other, so there has to be something to it.”  
    He watched as Richard pointed to the panels, and said, “Or it’s another puzzle.  All these images are in line with places, and they must match up to do something.  The locations are opposite three panels on each line.”  He watched as Carl then walked over to Richard, and they worked to put all the panels in place.  
    As the two worked, Michael walked over to a button near the door.  Soon he heard the familiar voice that described all the rooms.  It told him that the room was devoted to space, aliens, and the idea that ancient aliens might have met ancient cultures.  When it was done, he turned to see the top of a model flying saucer opening up.  “Hey, I think you two should see this.”  
    They all gathered around the flying saucer, and were stunned to see an animal head in it.  As they all looked at it, Michael saw something familiar about the shape of the base.  “Hey, I think it looks like it would go with the pot we found in the clock tower.  What was that one again?”  
    He heard Richard reply.  “The Crystal Ixupi pot.  When we finish searching the rest of the rooms, we will get it so you can capture that one.”  They all stepped back from the flying saucer exhibit, and Michael could tell that Richard had remembered something.  “Hey, weren’t we talking about which Ixupi might be the leader?”  
    Michael nodded.  “We were.  I think it would have to be the one that would be most dangerous if it got out of here.”  He started to think about which ones they had seen, and all the symbols in the book.  Finally, something hit him.  He looked around the room, and thought about everything, including something Richard told him long ago.  “I think I know which one is in charge.”  
    The others looked at him, and he could see that they both wanted to know what he had figured out.  He also saw that Richard must have started thinking on the same lines.  Finally, Richard came to the same conclusion that he had.  “Good grief.  That’s why this place still has power.  It’s the Thunder and Lightning Ixupi.  It’s keeping this place going.”  
    He watched as the realization hit Carl.  “If that’s the case, then it must know everything we are doing.  But why would it keep the place going?”  
    Michael didn’t have an answer, but was surprised when an answer came in a familiar voice.  “To lure more of your blight here, and free my brethren so they can complete their task.”  All three turned and looked at the speaker by the door.  Until now, Michael had never been scared by all the strange stuff.  Now, it was different.  Now, the Ixupi had made contact.  
  
    Richard Cale felt his blood freeze when he heard the voice come from the speaker.  He had not expected that one of the creatures would actually speak, let alone in English.  He was also hoping that it had been some sort of freak thing.  He glanced at both Carl and Michael, and could tell they had heard the same thing.  He quickly motioned the others closer to him, and said, “I suggest we run for the next room.”  
    They all nodded, and quickly ran for the door.  The fact that the Ixupi spoke to them was unnerving.  The fact that it seemed to speak English since it was an ancient Mayan, or Inca, creature was terrifying.  However, it was how it made the voice that had been in the recordings seem malevolent.  The trio quickly ran for the door, and Michael was the first one through.  Carl was the second one through, and just as Richard reached the door, the creature spoke again.  “You should do the right thing.  Give yourself up, and spare those you care about a worse fate.  Take our place in the pot, and don’t end up stuck in a wall, in a canyon.  Even the girl you love would be better off like that.”  
    Richard felt himself freeze in the doorway.  How could this creature know about Yvette, and how could it even suggest something so horrible?  Part of him wanted to yell at the creature, face to face.  He even felt himself starting to lean towards the speaker, but felt himself pulled away from it, and into the next room.  
    When he heard the door close, he realized he was facing Michael.  “Richard, what were you about to do?  Don’t you know that thing was pulling a trick on you?”  He understood what Michael was upset, but Michael didn’t know why it bothered him.  
    Richard looked right into Michael’s eyes, and responded.  “Michael, I don’t know how that thing knew, but it sounded like it was threatening Yvette.  Now if it was listening to us, I can understand how it might have known, but I care about Yvette, and there is no way I’d let anyone, or anything, threaten her life.”  
    He watched as Michael stepped back, and then continued.  “Sorry, Mike.  I’m a bit on edge since we’ve been up so late.  I think we should avoid pushing the buttons playing the introductions to the room, unless we really have to.”  Michael nodded, and he also noticed that Carl nodded in agreement.  
    They all started to walk about in the room.  From what he could see, this room was most likely still setting up.  Everything still seemed to be in crates.  He walked over to one of the crate, and lifted the lid, finding an ancient tool.  He closed the crate, and stepped back.  “This doesn’t seem right.  Why would an ancient stone age tool be in a museum to the unknown.”  
    He heard Michael respond.  “I don’t know.  Stone age tools don’t seem too bizarre, unless this room is not related to historical items.  Maybe it’s theme is something else.”  
    Richard started to walk over to a dividing wall, and saw Carl was studying a pyramid face that was along the one wall.  As Carl was studying it, he heard him say, “Maybe it has something to do with human nature.  Like something about creativity, or maybe ingenuity.”  
    Richard had to agree with that remark when he saw the huge crate on the other side of the wall.  One word on the crate stuck out.  Alchemy.  He had read about the idea of Alchemy.  One of the most notable ideas was turning base metals in to valuable ones, like gold.  According to the crate, someone had developed a machine to do that.  
    It seemed impossible to him, but his curiosity was getting the better of him.  He quickly walked over to the crate, and tried to peek inside.  His attempt was greeted by the sound of the side of the crate falling to the floor.  The sound it made when it hit the hard floor made him jump back, and caused Michael to come running over.  “What happened?  Did something try to attack you?”  
    Richard shook his head.  “Nothing attacked.  I just tried to check this crate, and it fell open.  But look at this weird machine in it.  I’ve never seen anything like it.”  They both looked at the huge machine, and studied it for a moment.  After a few moments, Richard finally spoke.  “Do you think it might be another puzzle of sorts?”  
    Michael shrugged.  “It could be, but I’m not familiar with the topic of Alchemy.  Do you think Carl might know something?”  
    Richard smiled.  He had remembered reading that one of Carl’s stories from the past included something about an Alchemist.  He quickly turned around the dividing wall, calling out.  “Hey Carl, can you help us with something?”  He froze when he looked over at where the pyramid was, and saw that Carl was no where to be found.  
    He quickly ran over to the pyramid.  “Mike, Carl disappeared.”  His friend followed him, and they both called out for the missing reporter.  Inwardly, Richard hoped that Carl hadn’t fallen prey to any of the Ixupi.  
    In moments, Richard heard Carl’s voice, coming from the other side of the wall.  “It’s all right.   I think I stumbled onto another secret passage.  One of the bricks on the pyramid opens it.”  
    Richard looked at Michael, and they both started pushing on each brick.  After trying almost every brick, Richard felt one move, and the stair face lowered, and the two teens entered the now open passage.  Just to the left of the door, Carl was standing, and was taking a picture.  “Looks like there are more secrets in this place.  Shall we find out where this passage leads?”  
    Richard looked down the hall, noticing that there appeared to be some steps, and then he looked down the other direction.  “It might be a good idea.  There may be something else down these halls, and if it’s a faster way to places, it will be better to know the path, and all our options.”  Richard then started down the hall that was to the right of how they entered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter was originally posted up on Fanfiction.net under my actual name.


	11. Riddles and Fortunes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio discover the beginning of one of the most complex puzzles the museum has to offer, and then prepare to enter one of the most disturbing exhibits in the place.

Chapter 11: Riddles and Fortunes  
  
    Michael McNeal walked behind Richard Cale as they moved down the hallway.  Personally, he didn’t like the idea of all three of them moving down a narrow hallway.  It wasn’t so narrow that they had to walk one behind the other, but it was narrow enough to keep them from walking side by side.  This left them in the unfavorable state of being proverbial ducks in a row.  
    What also made him uneasy was the fact that he was in the middle of the line.  Behind him was Carl Kolchak, who like his friend Richard, ended up stuck in the museum with him because they were there at the wrong time.  Now, he felt worried for whenever one of the creatures, the Ixupi, as they had been called, decided to attack.  Carl was obviously in his late fifties, or early sixties, and would fall after one or two successful Ixupi attacks.  
    He was lost in his thoughts when he ran right into his friend.  He shook his head, and saw why Richard had stopped.  Right in front of them was an elevator.  He looked at his friend, realizing that the hall ended right here.  “Think this is a new elevator, or one we’ve seen before?”  
    He watched as Richard pressed a panel in the wall.  Another of the puzzle panels appeared, and Richard calmly said, “We’ll have to wait and see.”  He then watched as Richard started to work at the puzzle.  
    As his friend worked, he heard Carl say something.  “You don’t like being in this corridor, do you?”  Michael shook his head.  He glanced back just as Carl said, “I understand.  To be honest, I keep expecting something to come up behind us.  I looked back a few times, expecting to find some of the past things I’ve encountered behind us.”  
    Michael looked at Carl with a puzzled look.  “What kinds of things?  A crazed killer, or something inhuman like these Ixupi?”  
    He was stunned when Carl gave a wry smile.  “A little of both, actually.  I’m still unsure if I’ll see Jack the Ripper behind us, or some monkey like missing link.  Of course, I’d rather not see any of them again.”  
    Michael felt a bit stunned about what Carl just said.  “You’re joking, I hope.  If you weren’t, I take it your editor didn’t believe either of those stories.”  
    He glanced back at Richard who was still working on the puzzle, but still listened to Carl.  “To be honest, Tony didn’t fully believe me about Jack the Ripper, but had to acknowledge I was on to something; especially after the killer was stopped, and his shoes dated back to the late 1800’s.  As for the monkey man, he was ready to post the story, but the company linked to the story found a way to block it.”  
    He was stunned by that news.  The way Richard had mentioned that his stories were sent to Yvette, he assumed that none made it to print.  The fact that one made it so far to be almost published surprised him.  He was about to ask why it was blocked, when Richard stood back, and the elevator opened.  “I got it.”  He also noticed Richard looked in the elevator and just said one thing.  “It’s the one we saw earlier.  The hint about the door having Geoffrey’s name is on the wall.”  
    Michael felt a bit discouraged when he heard that.  He did hope that there was another elevator, but that was a long shot.  He then turned around.  “Well, if this just leads to the elevator, why don’t we all head back the other way.  There has to be something more than this.”  He watched as Carl turned around, and they all started to follow Carl.  
    As they progressed, Michael took note of various things.  First was the stairs they went down.  They ended at a small landing, and then there were steps to the left and to the right.  They took the left side, and followed the hallway.  Michael noticed a few things, which included a larger section of hallway where they found the second floor elevator, various piles of metal and wood, and a few side hallways.  One of those side hallways led to the steps they didn’t choose to come down.  Eventually, they reached a dead end, which Michael almost thought was just that, until he noticed a button on the wall.  
    He pushed the button, hoping it was a way out of the hallway, and was grateful when a door opened.  He ducked down, and stepped through, and realized where he was.  The passage had led them back to the Tombs exhibits, specifically the Tomb of the Ixupi exhibit.  He waited for both Richard and Carl to get through before speaking.  “I think we might have found a shortcut of sorts.”  
    He watched as Carl looked around, and Richard went over to the Tomb of the Ixupi entrance.  After a moment, the reporter said, “Indeed.  We’ll have to remember that, in case we ever need to move in a hurry.  Besides, I don’t think we need to fuss with that elevator panel all the time.”  Carl had a good point.  That puzzle to open the elevator was not an easy thing to work.  And as the night dragged on, and the more tired they got, he was sure they wouldn’t be able to keep solving the puzzle.  
    He looked over as Richard walked into the Ixupi Tomb, and checked on the pots in the room.  “There is another good point.  With this quick way back here, we can place the pots of the Ixupi we’ve captured back into the room.  The ones we left in here are still intact, which means the Ixupi can’t open them themselves.”  He then watched as Richard left the room, and went to the wall they had just entered through.  
    Michael followed him to the wall, and turned a leaf around, which reopened the passageway.  Richard reentered the passage, and they followed as Richard said, “Maybe we should check that one side passage.  If I remember from the map correctly, there was another room down there.  Maybe it was supposed to be part of the tour.”  
    Michael doubted it, but another room might have some other clues to what is going on.  Carl also brought up another point.  “There could be something else down there.  You remember we found the bodies of Professor Windlenot and Merrick, and only found the spirits of Professor Windlenot and Beth.  That leaves one body, and one spirit, unaccounted for.  Maybe one of those is in that room.”  
    Michael nodded as they went down the one side hall.  “He’s right, Rich.  I wouldn’t be surprised if an Ixupi pot containing Merrick’s spirit is in the room.”  That thought was still in his mind when they reached a small room like area with a door and a picture frame.  
    He watched as Richard tried the door, and then looked at the picture frame.  “Another door linked to a puzzle.  I guess one of us needs to figure out the picture.”  He then watched as Richard looked at the puzzle and started to flip pieces around.  
    As he watched, he noticed Carl chancing a glance behind him, after moving a step forward.  After a moment, he heard a sound like floorboards creaking.  He chanced a quick glance behind him, and noticed the boards lying against the wall, all of which had an odd green glow about them.  He did the same as Carl, and tried to stay calm.   If one of them had been alone, they wouldn’t be this close to an Ixupi.  He also remembered one thing about all the attacks.  They only happened when someone was looking right at the object, and was close to it.  He had already had too many attacks tonight, and didn’t want to have another.  
    He was thankful when they all herd a click coming from the door.  He and Carl walked over as Richard opened the door, and stepped into a small room.  His friend just shook his head as he looked around. “Looks like this room was used as a store room.  Maybe it wasn’t part of the tour.”  Once he and Carl were in the room with Richard, he glanced around the room, noticing various boxes, and other odds and ends.  As they looked around the room, Michael did wonder why a puzzle lock was put on the door.  
  
    Richard Cale looked around the small room, feeling a bit crowded with all of them in the room.  He never really liked crowds in small rooms, and with all the stuff in the room, three people were a crowd.  He tried to calm himself down, thinking about happy thoughts, so he wouldn’t panic.  
    After a few breaths, he took notice of something.  In the room was a fortune telling machine.  The only reason he realized what it was the simple fact that he had watched a movie featuring one of those things with Yvette once.  He tried to move towards it, and he knew he bumped someone.  He wasn’t sure who, until Carl said, “Sorry.  Didn’t know you had wanted to move.”  
    He got right in front of the machine, and said to Carl, “It’s OK.  I’m just hoping we don’t spend too much longer in this room.”  He then looked over the machine, and noticed a coin in the change return slot of the machine.  He picked it up, and placed it right into the slot.  
    Almost immediately, the machine came to life.  As the gears moved, he heard Michael speak, as if surprised by the sound.  “What’s happening?  What’s that noise?”  When Michael saw the machine, he must have thought the same thing Richard had.  “Isn’t that the same thing that was in that movie with Tom Hanks?”  
    Richard just nodded, as a fortune was revealed.  However, as he read it, it didn’t make sense at first.  The second time he read it didn’t clear it up.  Without looking away from the fortune, he decided to ask what the others thought.  “Hey guys, this machine just gave a weird fortune.  It’s almost like a riddle.  _‘Earth must be aligned with love and war, then from below, you’ll discover more.’_   Does that make any sense to anyone?”  
    It didn’t boost his morale when both his friend and the famous reporter shook their heads.  There had to be a meaning to the riddle, mainly because of how weird it seemed.  He then shook his head, hoping that it would wake him up enough to figure out what the riddle meant.  
    After a moment, he was no closer to figuring out the riddle, but he put it out of his mind when Carl said, “Hey, I think I found the missing spirit.  There is a pot on the floor here.”  He glanced down right to where Carl was pointing and saw the Ixupi pot.  A quick glance told him the pattern on it was for jade.  
    He knelt down to open up the pot, and stepped back, which wasn’t to far back, given the small room.  Soon, in the open space, the spirit of Merrick appeared from the pot.  It looked around for a moment, before it finally spoke.  “Where am I?   How long have I been in there?”  
    Richard was startled when Carl softly said, “It’s been about fifteen years.”  He noticed a startled look cross the spirit’s face.  
    After a second, the spirit continued.  “It’s so dark and cold in there.”  The spirit then looked at them.  “I’m one of them now?”  Richard just shook his head, and a look of relief crossed the spirit’s face.  It was quickly replaced by a look of panic.  “Where’s Beth?  Is she still alive?”  Richard sadly shook his head, and he saw a look of grief pass over the spirit’s face.  
    Soon, the spirit seemed to appear like it was going to be pulled away.  The spirit looked almost happy about it, but it looked at them and said, “Find the Black Book.  It will explain everything.”  When the last of those words were spoken, Richard watched as the spirit disappeared.  
    He quickly recapped the pot, and picked it up.  He turned to face the others.  “I don’t think there is any more in this room.  Should we go back to the room where we first entered the secret passage?”  He watched as both nodded.  He was glad when Carl opened the door, and they all left the room.  
    As they reentered the passageway, they quickly made there way back to the secret door to the tools room.  As they walked, he noticed Michael slowed to walk closer to him.  “Richard, you aren’t claustrophobic, are you?”  
    Richard shook his head, even though he wasn’t sure himself.  He then softly said, “I just get unnerved when a room is overcrowded.  That room wasn’t really big enough to give us elbow room.”  He noticed as Michael nodded, and picked up the pace.  In almost no time, they were back at the door to the room they had entered from on the third floor, and reentered the room where they had found the tools and the strange machine.  
  
    As they all reentered the room for Man’s Ingenuity, Carl Kolchak wondered about everything they had learned, and experienced so far.  It seemed that even though the puzzles were designed to be fun, they were proving to be an obstacle, which had doomed all of those who encountered the Ixupi.  He was thankful that the puzzles hadn’t reset, unless the Ixupi were smart enough to leave them that way to instill false hope.  He remembered how the one Ixupi manipulated the speakers to make it seem like it was talking to them.  
    Thinking about that, Carl’s mind went to the big machine they had found in this very room.  He looked at the two teens and took off his hat to fan himself.  “You know, I just remembered something.  How could there be an Alchemy Machine if Alchemy saw it’s heyday back before Industrialization?”  He decided not to mention his own encounters with an alchemist in Seattle.  
    He watched as the two teens looked at each other, and then ran over to the machine.  He quickly followed them, and watched as a panel opened up, revealing nine pieces, and nine spots for them.  As he watched, he heard Richard say, “I think we have to put these pieces in the proper spots.  And I think there are some clues on which piece goes where on the machine.”  
    He stayed back as Michael nodded.  “I think you are right.  Hopefully, this one won’t take long to solve.”  As they both worked on it, Carl stepped back, almost to the door that was opposite the machine.  
    He pulled out his tape recorder, and turned it on, intent on recording some notes for his story.  His first thought was the museum.  “The Windlenot museum could have been a very profitable museum.  While Windlenot’s focuses on the bizarre, he also focuses on how some real things are bizarre, and some bizarre things are real.  He also worked to make it enjoyable, by putting fun little puzzles here and there.  Of course, being trapped in the museum make the puzzles almost sinister.”  
    He look over at the teens again, seeing they were still at work on the puzzle.  “Of course, the Ixupi don’t make it any easier.  A book that was in the museum explains the legend, and how they came to be.  From my experiences so far, those that are still in the museum seem to have a hierarchy, with the one bound to electricity being the leader.  Mind you, I’m still wondering how the ancient people who caught the Ixupi bound one to electricity.”  
    He looked up at the teens, and saw they were getting closer to a final solution.  In many of his past encounters, he had run into willing help, and help willing to believe, until the time was passed.  The two teens represented both types, and he hoped to include them in his story.  He glanced at Michael McNeal, thinking how the African-American teen would be, just from the actions shown so far.  “Now, if I had been alone, I might not have survived.  It could be both good and bad fortune that I got stuck here with two teenagers.  One being Michael McNeal.  By some quirk of fate, he was dared to spend the night here.  Those who dared him were unaware that other people were on the grounds.  Michael seems very level headed, even though he’s facing unworldly things.  He has taken up a leader like role, but knows when to listen to others.  However, I do believe that this kind of situation is one he’ll want to put behind him when it’s over.”  
    He glanced back at the teens, and saw that the puzzle was almost solved.  He glanced at the teen in glasses, and continued.  “Now, Richard Cale is another story.  If not for the Ixupi, he’d consider this a dream come true.  He would trek up to the museum every week.  This visit ended with him getting stuck on the grounds.  However, his knowledge about the museum’s history, as well as his interest in the bizarre has been a blessing.”  
    He turned off the recorder when he heard something open.  He stepped towards the machine, and saw a panel had opened up.  He then noticed Richard was looking in the panel.  As he got closer, he saw the lid of one of the pots.  It had what appeared to be two snakes on it.  As he looked at it, he heard Richard say, “It’s another lid.  I’m not sure which one it goes to, but I’m sure we’ll find its mate.”  
    He heard Michael agree with his friend.  “I hope so.  I just hope there isn’t much more of this place to explore.  I bet once we know every room, it will be easier to catch the Ixupi we haven’t caught yet.”  He watch as both turned to face him, and heard Michael address him.  “Hey Carl, do you remember which Ixupi we’ve caught so far?”  
    Carl closed his eyes for a moment and thought.  In total, there were thirteen.  Three had killed Professor Windlenot, Merrick, and Beth.  That left ten.  He remembered Richard catching the Ash Ixupi, and Michael catching the Water Ixupi.  He then opened his eyes and answered.  “I think there may be eight left.  Let’s hope we can find the rest of the pots and their lids, and catch them all.”  
    They all then headed for the door that was opposite the Alchemy machine.  Carl took a deep breath and opened it.  He quickly closed it when the sounds of screams came from the room.  He looked at the others and he could see a look of shock on their faces.  He reopened the door, and looked inside.  In that moment, he realized the screams were prerecorded, but this exhibit had to be one of the most disturbing.  “I think we all better brace ourselves.  Something tells me this room might be linked to some of our darker history.”  He then fully opened the door, and led the way into the disturbing exhibit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally posted up on fanfiction.net under my given name.


	12. Final Punishments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having reached what most might think as the final rooms, the trio realize that the place had one more secret to discover. Also, another individual outside the museum realized something is afoot at the museum.

Chapter 12: Final Punishments  
  
    Richard Cale slowly entered the room, especially after hearing the screams when the door had been originally opened.  He did remember from the map he had seen earlier that the room was devoted to Man’s Inhumanity to Man, but he never expected the sounds, and now the sights.  The room had to be devoted to the worst things mankind can do, most likely as punishments.  
    He was aware that people had an interest in it, especially seeing stuff like a guillotine in various shows, but this was too much.  It was worse, since they were under the threat of an Ixupi attack.  He almost froze when they had to pass through a tunnel lined with spikes.  He wasn’t surprised when Carl Kolchak froze and said, “With all that I’ve seen, I can honestly say that this is the most disturbing.”  
    He wasn’t surprised when Michael McNeal, his friend, nodded in agreement.  “I don’t think I can imagine something more disturbing.”  Richard wanted to say something in reference to Michael’s preference to horror movies, but decided not to.  
    As he walked through the tunnel, he froze, seeing a skeleton lying on a table, its wrists in manacles.  As he examined the sight, noticing the chains, and realized what it had to be.  He stepped away from it, and shivered a bit, as the recordings of screams still played.  “Right now, I don’t know what is more disturbing, the exhibits or the whole situation.”  He turned around and jumped at the sight of the guillotine.  
    He then noticed as Michael walked over to a display of a gallows.  He turned around, and then noticed in a cage like area, a model electric chair.  He shivered again, as he realized that this part of the exhibit was devoted to methods of execution.  As he looked at the machine, his mind tried to imagine the pain the people went through with each execution style.  
    He was glad the chair wasn’t active, since it might have meant another place the Lightning Ixupi could hide.  However, the idea of death by electrocution worried him.  As he looked at it, he heard Carl come up behind him, saying, “It is a gruesome way to go.  Jack the Ripper was afraid of it.  It was the only way that could kill him.”  
    Richard nodded, remembering the story that had been sent to Yvette.  “I read that.  Was that the only way to defeat him?”  He saw Carl nod, and then looked back at the device.  “I don’t know what is more disturbing, the method of execution, or the fact that they are displayed here.”  
    They both jumped when they heard a sound, and they both turned to face the gallows.  Michael was standing at the top, and looked down at something.  “I think that the disturbing fact is that the displays work, to a degree.  This one had me put in a measurement, and it hung the dummy when I pushed the button.”  
    Leery about doing so, he climbed up the steps of the gallows.  As he went up to Michael, he took another look around the room, noticing all the gruesome background images.  If the threat of the Ixupi weren’t around, the room would have been fascinating, in a macabre sense.  
    When he reached the top, he noticed something through the corner of the trapdoor.  He walked over to the trapdoor, and saw a podium of some sort underneath the platform.  He sat down on the edge of the trapdoor and said, “There is something hidden underneath the platform.  I’m going down to check it out.”  
    As he climbed down, he heard Carl climbing up the steps, saying, “Before you get down there, let me be up there to help, just in case.”  He slipped down just before Carl finished his statement, and glanced around the area.  His eyes focused on the platform, and he saw an Ixupi pot on it.  On the pot was the markings that represented Cloth.  
    He went over to the trapdoor, and grabbed the arms of Carl and Michael.  As they helped him out, he told about his discovery.  “I found the Cloth Ixupi’s pot.  Before we head back down, we should pick it up.”  
    When they had him out, Carl started back down the gallows steps.  “That sounds like a good idea.  Of course, I think we should get out of this room soon.  I’m starting to get spooked.”  
    He heard Michael answer in agreement.  “Indeed.  That display was a bit too realistic for my taste.”  As they passed the electric chair display, Richard glanced over at it, agreeing with Michael’s assessment.  The displays were way too realistic for his taste as well.  
    As Carl opened the door to the next room, he was glad that this one appeared brighter, especially as the walls gave the impression of a fun room.  It also hinted that there was some sort of puzzle, with question marks and games appearing on the wall.  
  
    Carl Kolchak was thankful to be out of the room with all the execution methods in it.  He was also thankful that this room appeared more cheerful.  Once they turned the corner of the room, he noticed a little game on a pedestal.  A similar device was mounted on the wall, over what appeared to be an odd shaped door.  He watched as Richard moved towards the device on the wall, as Michael looked at the one on the pedestal.  
    Carl took a moment to snap a picture, and watched as the two teens examined the devices.  As they investigated the devices, Carl stepped back, pulled out his tape recorder, and turned it on, to dictate some notes.  “The farther we get into the museum, besides learning more about what caused the deaths fifteen years ago, we also get a feel for how we tend to flock to the unusual. This includes our fascinations with puzzles, inventions, legends, and even macabre topics.  Had none of the misfortune happened all those years ago, this museum would have been a hit.  Of course, given the course of human interests in the current years, this museum could be more a hit now, at least once the Ixupi are gone.”  
    He turned off the tape recorder just as Michael spoke.  “It looks like these are like the Mastermind game.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the one on the wall opens the door.  I think to start it, you pull the lever.”  
    He watched as Richard pulled the lever on the wall mounted one, and he heard the sound of spinning panels.  Once it stopped, he saw a panel slide open revealing five smaller panels.  All of the small panels had the same image on them.  He then watched as Richard touched the top panel.  He saw it change as the teen said, “If this is an exact replica of that thing, I don’t think that one is an ancient device.”  He then watched as Richard turned all the panels back to the first images, and pushed a button.  Once the button was pushed, a number appeared above the images, and another panel slid open.  
    As he looked at it, he heard Michael speak the question on his mind.  “What does that number ‘20’ mean?”  He watched as Richard set the next five small panels to another image, and push a button.  This time, the number was 10.  
    He saw Richard smile, and repeat the process with another set of panels.  “I think a two digit number ending in zero means that what ever number is first is the number of images in the correct spots.”  After the process was repeated for a fourth time, revealing a last 10, he saw Richard mix up the images, and pushed the button to get 32.  “See, I’ve set three images correct, and have two images in the wrong spot.”  
    Carl let out a light hearted laugh.  “Imagine that, an ancient culture developed Mastermind.  Of course, something like this either means they were very sophisticated, or they had help.”  He heard Richard laugh at the last statement, but he knew it was because the young man didn’t believe in aliens.  Of course, given how the Ixupi had aged both the teens, he was surprised the boy could still hold those beliefs.  
    Before he could say anything else, he saw the door open.  He then watched as Richard crouched down, and passed through the door.  “Well, solve one puzzle, and encounter another.”  He followed Richard through, hearing Michael following him, and stood up to see two large picture panels.  He watched as Richard looked at both for a moment saying, “Something seems odd about these pictures.”  
    Carl nodded, and step towards one of a living room setting.  As he neared it, he blinked for a moment, noticing words on the picture.  As he got closer, he smiled and laughed.  After he stepped back, he looked at Richard, and said, “You’re right.  That picture let’s you know if you’re standing too close.”  
    He then glanced at where Michael would have stopped, but saw that the young man had gone farther.  He quickly realized that the second picture, one of a skull, was an optical illusion.  As he and Richard stepped into the hall way the illusion hid, he saw Michael standing at a machine, pushing buttons.  As they neared, Michael didn’t take his eyes away from the machine, but he said, “It’s another puzzle.  Once the colored balls are in their proper spots, I think the door on my left will open.”  
    Carl glanced at the door Michael spoke of, and noticed it seemed shaped like a person.  As Michael continued pushing buttons, Carl wondered what was beyond the door.  He couldn’t fully remember the map they had seen earlier, but he was sure this was near the end of the given path.  Something had to be behind the door.  He got his answer when the door finally opened.  He stepped through the door, and stopped as he looked at what appeared to be a large door, shaped like a keyhole.  
  
    Michael McNeal followed Carl and Richard through the door, and stopped when he realized what he was facing.  They were on what looked like a bridge, and saw that a door shaped like a keyhole was at the other end.  He also noticed that a dial with six skulls, five of which were glowing with specific colors.  The last one didn’t glow, and he wasn’t sure what it meant.  
    He walked over to the door, and tried to open it, only to find that it wouldn’t open. As he stepped back from it, he stopped as his foot bumped something.  He glanced down, and saw another Ixupi pot by his foot.  He glanced down at it, and saw the markings on it, noticing they denoted the pot was for the Metal Ixupi.  He then looked up, and said, “All right, how do we open this door?”  
    He watched as Richard moved toward the dial, and looked at it.  Before too long, his friend spoke.  “We have to set the last dial.  It’s in a room we haven’t been in yet, but have seen from the camera control panel.”  
    Michael thought about the trip up to the clock tower top.  As he thought about it, he could see the twelve monitors in his mind, and he also saw the image Richard had reminded him about.  Although the monitors did not seem to show color, the room had an underground theme to it, and something crossed through the room, something black.  He then looked at Richard, and said, “All right, how do you plan to get to the room?”  
    He watched as Richard started to walk back and forth.  Given how late it felt, he was sure Richard was having a hard time thinking.  He had to admit that he was having some trouble as well.  However, before his friend could answer the question, he heard Carl snap his fingers.  
    He turned towards the reporter, just as the man said it.  “The Sirens and the organ.  Remember when we saw that display down in the Mysteries of the Deep room.  It’s another puzzle.  Besides, all these rooms seem to be on a path, except for the two off the Animals room.  Both appear to be dead ends, but what if one actually leads to another room.”  
    He watched as Richard snapped his fingers as well.  “He’s right.  It might also explain the film that was loaded up in the projector.  Maybe that film was left there because it is needed.”  He then noticed that a smile had crossed Richard’s face.  “I think I have a plan.”  
    He looked at his friend, knowing his classmate actually did seem to have a plan.  “What might the plan be, and does it take in to account those things running about?”  
    He smiled when his friend nodded.  “Indeed.  We are going to head down, making sure each one of us has one of the Ixupi pots.  Since there is three of us, we should be able to each hold one pot, and quickly decrease their numbers.  In the process, we should be able to definitely catch the Cloth Ixupi, and be ready for the Oil Ixupi.”  
    He was puzzled by that statement, until Carl also remember the black area he had seen on the camera in the unseen room.  “Of course, that little area in that room must be tar or oil.  Another sentry post.”  He watched as Richard nodded, and he understood the reasoning.  As he thought about it, he also felt like they were going to survive the night.  
  
*********************************************  
  
    Ron Updyke ascended the steps in his sibling’s home.  He had been lucky to get out of the office before Tony Vincenzo, his editor, handed out an anniversary story about a crime.  It wasn’t that he didn’t want the story, since it involved a museum, but he did want to see his family.  Of course, the visit was nice, until tonight, when a boy his niece was dating disappeared.  
    Of course, since the boy was only gone a few hours, it wasn’t a news worthy item.  The only note worthy thing so far was the boy’s father was a known author.  This was something he caught in passing, as his sibling spoke about it.  His sibling worked for the local news, which was also getting ready for a visit from a television show.  He didn’t catch the name of the show, but maybe it was something he could get into.  A television reporter did make more money than a newspaper reporter.  
    When he reached the top of the steps, he stopped when he saw his niece’s door was open, and he heard a soft sobbing.  He walked over to the door, and looked in, seeing his niece still dressed, and looking out the window.  He knocked on the door, and asked, “Yvette, what’s wrong?”  
    He entered when she didn’t turn, but said, “I think my friend is lying.  I asked her if she knew where Richard was, and she said no.  I asked about Michael, and she said he was doing a dare in the local graveyard, but I’m sure that’s a lie.”  
    Ron put a hand on his niece’s shoulder, and calmly said, “And maybe it is true, Yvette.  Maybe they don’t know where he is.  And maybe your other friend is doing a dare at the cemetery, even though it’s a foolish thing to do.”  
    He watched as she pointed out the window.  “I know where they are, and they won’t admit it.  They are up at the Windlenot Museum.  I can tell from here.  The clock tower faces my room, and had always read twelve o’clock.  Now look at it.”  
    He glanced out the window, and suppressed a shudder.  The clock didn’t read twelve o’clock, but five thirty.  However, that wasn’t what caused the shutter.  It was the fact that he had seen the museum before.  Before he left the office, he had seen a picture of the museum the story was about.  It was the same one.  He didn’t like how this was playing out, especially since he was developing the fear that Tony would find out that where he was going away to was also the location of a good story.  
    He suppressed the fear, and calmly said to his niece, “Well, I don’t know what to say, but I do hope your boyfriend is safe.  I think you should try and get some rest.”  He then left the room, and headed for the guest room.  As he did that, he also remembered one last thing.  More than likely, Carl got the story about the museum, and given Carl’s past, he was sure that if the boys were in the museum, so was Carl.  Even though Carl’s stories sounded outlandish, and unlikely, Carl had a knack for surviving.  If they were all there together, other than a possibly outlandish story, they would all survive the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally posted up on fanfiction.net, under my given name.


	13. Pots and Riddles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having reached the highest point of the museum, the trio starts to make its way down, figuring out the riddles in a chain that started in the machine they found.

Chapter 13: Pots and Riddles  
  
    Carl Kolchak started to head back out toward to the puzzle rooms, and stopped.  He looked back at pot that was on the floor, and said, “Should we take that pot with us, and which one is it?”  He had noticed it when they first entered the room, but he never got a good look at it.  
    He watched as Michael McNeal looked back at it as well.  “Carl has a good question there, Rich.   Should we take the Metal Ixupi pot with us as well?”  He was glad the African American boy realized which one it was.  However, they were still unsure how many each of them could carry at a time.  
    He watch as Richard Cale walked past it, looking down at it for a moment, and then continued to the door, pausing only long enough to push his glasses back on to his face.  “No.  We know where it is right now.  If we have to leave it else where because of something, we might forget where we placed it.  I think that right now, we need to get the items to catch the Cloth Ixupi, the Oil Ixupi, and maybe one of the two Ixupis that attacked us, Mike.”  
    Carl understood the reasoning behind that thinking.  As he led the way back through the puzzle rooms, he thought about how relaxing the rooms were.  They were designed to help put one in a relaxed state.  It made sense since the room they were returning to was one of the most unnerving in the whole museum.  
    As they entered the Inhumanities room again, Carl suppressed a shudder as the recorded cries of agony hit his ears.  Mentally, he cursed the fact that the generator was still powering the place, and part of him hoped that the power in the room would fail, just so they wouldn’t hear the recording in this room any more.  
    As he went to head towards the door out of the room and back to the Inventions room, he saw Richard climbing up the gallows display.  Before he could ask what the young man was doing, he heard the lad say, “Could someone come up here and at least hold on to me as I reach for the pot?”  
    Quickly, he and Michael both ran up, and held on to Richard’s legs.  As the boy reached for the pot, Carl couldn’t help but voice his discomfort with the room.  “I hope this doesn’t take long.  This room is more disturbing the second time round.”  He glanced over at Michael, and could see that he wasn’t the only one who felt that way.  
    He then heard the other young man say, “He’s right, Rich.  Let’s get out of this room quickly.”  He then watched as Richard managed to get out, holding the pot for the Cloth Ixupi.  With out another word being said, the three of them quickly got off the Gallows display, and ran for the door back to the room of Inventions.  They didn’t even slow down until they reached the Space room.  
    When they all stopped for a moment, Carl looked around the room, and hoped they wouldn’t hear the Electric Ixupi again.  He had not even realized they had ran to the room.  Everything was the same as they had left it earlier.  The flying saucer was still open, and the panel puzzle was still solved.  However, he did notice that Richard was staring at the planets.  
    As he looked at it, he remembered the riddle that Richard had told them earlier.  The display in the middle might have been an attempt at a scale model of the solar system, but it was missing the outer planets.  He couldn’t even remember hearing about a museum that only showed the inner planets in a model of the solar system.  However, he remembered what the names of the planets represented.  He walked over to the model, and reached for the representation of Venus.  As he moved it, he told Richard, “Move Mars so it aligns with Earth.  It will reveal the next riddle.”  
    He watched as Richard moved the representation of Mars.  “I was just thinking that.  I even remembered that the book we found earlier only seemed to focus on the inner planets.  Love and war are Venus and Mars.”  Carl knew that, but he didn’t want to say anything.  This was not the first time he had been awake for several hours.  The incident involving the doppelganger firebug had made both him, and a famous conductor, avoid falling asleep unless they were in a sacred place.  
    When all three planets were aligned, he heard Michael shout.  “That must have been it.  There are some words appearing on the blue area underneath the model.”  He looked down, and sure enough, letters were appearing underneath it.  When all the words finally appeared, he heard Michael recite them. “ _‘Midst the storm, the Norse God executes his thunderous deed.  Near him a message, its contents you must heed.’_   It must have something to do with the statue of Thor.”  
    He watched as Richard nodded.  “I think you’re right.  We need to get down to the Gods and Legends room.  I think we’ll even find the top to the Cloth pot down there as well.”  He watched as Richard looked over the pot, and then said, “In fact, I think the top we found in the Anansi music box is the top for this one.”  He then watched as a shudder went through the boy’s body.  
    After a moment, he watched as Richard handed the Cloth pot to him.  “Carl, I think maybe you should have the honors of catching the Cloth Ixupi.  Neither of us was attacked by it, and maybe it would look good for you if one of us took a picture of you capturing it.”  
    After thinking about it for a moment, he took the pot, figuring that there was a second reason for Richard’s choice.  “Are you sure it isn’t because of the mechanical spider?”  When the boy remained silent, Carl just smiled.  “I understand.  Believe me, the events in Las Vegas were similar, except I got forced to do what I really didn’t want to do.”  
    He watched as the boy nodded, and then they all went down the steps.  As they made their way through the Gods and Legends room, and over to the Anansi music box, he heard a familiar, and disturbing sound.  He glanced over to a small statue of a snake, and he noticed a green tint to it.  When they were all around the music box, he quietly said, “I think I see the Wax Ixupi hiding in the snake statue over there.  Maybe we should trap that one next.”  
    He watched as the boys nodded, and then he grabbed the lid.  Just the second he touched it, he watched as the lid quickly attached to the Cloth pot, making a complete container.  He let the shock of the moment pass quickly, and then led the mad rush back to the Janitor’s closet.  
    The second he opened the door, he stopped and handed his Polaroid Instamatic to Richard.  “Richard, I want you to snap the picture the second the Ixupi appears.  If we time it right, we can get its capture on film.  There is no way anyone can think the picture is doctored or faked.”  He watched as the boy nodded, and then stepped forward.  The rags still had a green tint to them, and as he moved towards it, he heard the rustling sound.  When he was close enough, he held up the pot just as the creature emerged from the rags.    
    It was a hideous site, with three apparent eyes, and a slightly gaping maw.  The second it saw the pot, it recoiled, as if it were trying to get away, but the only place it went was right into the pot.  In a few seconds, the supernatural creature was captured, and during that whole time, the only other thing Carl noticed was the flash of the camera.  
  
    Richard Cale lowered the camera and took a deep breath when the Ixupi was finally captured.  The picture he had taken was still in the camera, and in a minute or so, it would show Carl catching the Cloth Ixupi.  For right now, Richard was eager to see what was hidden under the rags.  
    He managed to get past Carl, who was still recovering from the Ixupi capture he had done, and moved the rags aside.  After he had moved a few of them, Richard saw what was underneath.  It was a lid to one of the pots, but at the moment, he wasn’t sure which pot it was mated with.  Hopefully, he would be able to remember how the base was shaped, and when he saw it, he could remember it.  
    He then stepped away from the rags, and noticed that Carl was now placing the pot in the bag of stuff he had been carrying.  Richard also noticed that Carl seemed a little more spry, as if he had been rejuvenated somehow.  Carl just smiled at him.  “You know, in the past, I never felt this good after defeating a monster.”  
    As they left the Janitor’s closet, Richard shrugged, but a thought crossed his mind.  “Maybe some of the youth that had it had claimed from the others went into you.  Maybe they hadn’t had time to absorb it all yet.”  Richard wasn’t sure if his thought was correct, but it could be the product of lack or rest.  
    Standing at the entrance to the Gods and Legends room, Richard saw a concerned look on Michael’s face.  Before his friend could ask, Richard pulled out the photo and showed it to Michael.  “I think that answers the question you were about to ask.  That should make three down, and seven to go.”  
    He watched as Michael nodded, and then looked at the photo.  “You know, I’ve heard about how people analyze photos of ghosts to see if they are fake.  I doubt they can do it with this one.”  He then saw a slight smile cross Michael’s face.  “Heck, I might shove this photo in Kiana’s face, just to see her reaction.”  During all this, Richard could tell that Michael was starting to accept that there were things out there that could not be easily explained.  
    As they started through the Gods and Legends room again, Richard looked about, remembering where they had found stuff so far.  He slowed down for a moment as they passed the wax snake again.  This time, he didn’t hear a sound from it, and he also noticed it didn’t have a green tint to it.  In the moments they had captured the Cloth Ixupi, the Wax one had fled that hiding spot.  
    They proceeded through the room, and stopped at the shrine structure.  As they looked at it, he saw Carl start heading towards it.  Before he could ask why, he heard the reporter answer the unasked question.  “I believe now would be the right time to capture the Wax Ixupi.”  
    Richard glanced at Michael, who only nodded.  Part of him felt bad that they were trying to catch the Wax Ixupi next, instead of the Crystal Ixupi, but he understood why.  The lid for the container was in the bull, and the pot was in the Funeral Rites room, which was just two rooms away.  
    He got over his concerns as Carl pulled the lid from the bull, and rejoined them.  He took the lid, and looked down, admiring the animal head on it.  As they started to walk again, he looked at Michael, and quietly said, “Mike, we should be getting the Crystal Ixupi first.”  
    As they neared the statue of Thor, his friend shook his head.  “No.  The stuff for the Wax Ixupi is closer to here.”  He then saw a startled look cross his friend’s face, especially as Michael smacked himself in the face.  “Speaking of this, I think I remember seeing the Oil Ixupi lid in the mummy case near the snake.  We’ll grab it once we get the Wax Pot.”  
    He nodded, and then looked at the statue of Thor, just as Carl was looking over it as well.  Michael had moved over to lean against a stone monolith that was near the statue.  Now, all they had to do was figure out the second riddle.  He couldn’t see anything that might conceal a riddle, but that didn’t mean a thing.  The search ended when he heard Michael yelp in surprise.  
    He and Carl both turned, and saw that the stone monolith that Michael had been leaning against had spun around.  What the action had revealed was another riddle, and Richard read it aloud.  “ _‘In hieroglyphs of Egypt ancient, a secret is concealed._  
 _Contemplate page 17, the solution is revealed.’_   This one isn’t going to be easy to solve.”  
    He watched as Michael turned to look at the inscription, and read the riddle.  As Michael read the riddle, Carl looked at him.  “What do you mean?  We know were the book is, and with the Water Ixupi gone, crossing to the book is not dangerous.”  
    Richard shook his head as he remembered the book.  His father always told him to respect books, and to that end, he remembered when ever a book was vandalized.  He had seen several library books vandalized.  Some were ripped, others had pictures in them altered, and every one got ingrained in his head.  This was why he knew it would be pointless to go back to the book in the cave.  “That book was missing pages 17 and 18, and by the meaning of that riddle, our next clue is on the missing page.”  
    He then saw Michael had turned to face him, and he saw a wide smile.  “Well, we know the page must be here somewhere.  The only people who had been in the museum was Professor Windlenot, Merrick, and Beth.  We know the Professor didn’t have it, and I don’t think Merrick had it, so.....”  
    Before Michael could finish the statement, he heard Carl shout our the conclusion.  “.... Beth must have the missing page.  We find her, and we find the missing page.”  He should have realized that when he was thinking about the missing page, but he didn’t.  
    Richard covered his mouth as a yawn hit him, and then shook his head to wake himself up.  “I think that now we should get the Wax pot, and catch that Ixupi in the snake.  I just hope he’s back there.”  The one drawback to the plan was that the Ixupi could move from hiding spot to hiding spot, as long as the spot they moved to was the material they were bound to.  
    They quickly passed through the Shaman room, and entered the Funeral Rites room.  In the brief moment that they had entered the room, Michael ran forward to the display that held the puzzle, and got the Wax Ixupi’s pot.  The second he gave it to Richard, Richard was amazed and how quickly, and seamlessly, the pot was restored.  
    He smiled, and then they all ran through the Shaman room, and into the Gods and Legends room.  As they passed through the door, Richard glanced quickly to his right as he heard a sound of creaking wood.  In that brief moment, he could see a green tint to the wooden statue, which told him the Wood Ixupi was currently hiding in it.  
    He decided not to bring that up at the moment, and they all continued to the wax snake.  As they neared it, he could already see it had a greenish tint to it.  He held out the Wax Ixupi pot in front of him, and approached it.  Soon, he heard the sounds that it was about to attack, and then it happened.  
    The Wax Ixupi oozed right out of the form of the snake, and went to strike, until it saw the pot.  It started to recoil in fear, and appeared to even try to flee.  However, the pot started to suck in the Ixupi, like wax was flowing into the pot.  Soon, the whole Ixupi was back in the pot, and Richard felt the familiar feeling of his youth returning to him.  When the moment passed, Richard felt a bit rejuvenated.  He also felt like he could remain awake for a few more hours.  
  
    Michael McNeal waited until Richard looked his normal self before he moved towards the mummy case that was propped against the wall.  When they had opened it earlier, he had seen the lid, and even though he hadn’t physically seen the pot, he was sure it was the lid for the Oil Ixupi’s pot.  He picked up the lid, and then handed it to Carl, who was a bit startled by the action.  
    Before Carl could say anything, Michael just pointed to the lid.  “Carl, would you say that matches the pot in the Library?”  He watched as Carl examined it, and then finally nodded.  “Then that is the lid for the Oil Ixupi.  All we need to do now is get the Oil Ixupi pot, and then head to the Mysteries of the Deep room.”  
    He watched as both Carl and his rejuvenated friend nodded in agreement.  He started to head back the way they had came, but he stopped when his friend said, “We need to make one stop.”  He turned to look at Richard, and his friend motioned to the pot he was holding.  “We need to put all the pots we have in the Ixupi Tomb display.”  
    Michael nodded, and they started walking through all the displays.  As they passed through all the displays, he started having a feeling of dread.  He didn’t know why, but something had spooked him in the room devoted to Tombs.  It hadn’t bothered him when they found the passage that opened into the room near the Tomb of the Ixupi.  
    As they passed through the Shaman’s room, and into the Funeral Rites room, he began to think about the mural in the Tombs room.  Did something about the pyramid in the mural seem to bother him, as if it was something unnatural?  He tried to put it out of his mind, but he couldn’t fully do that, especially as they entered the Tombs exhibit.  
    As they all descended the steps and made their way over to the Ixupi Tomb, Michael took another glance at the mural.  Again, he felt like there was something odd about the pyramid.  As he looked at the mural, even though it was just a building, he had the feeling the building was looking at him.  
    He was snapped out of the feeling when he heard Richard say, “All right, we have placed the Jade Ixupi pot, the Cloth Ixupi pot, and the Wax Ixupi pot.  That makes seven in total.  That means there is only six left, soon to be five.”  
    He smiled a bit at Richard’s optimism.  In a way, it was a good sign, especially since almost half of the loose Ixupi were captured.  However, he would feel better once they were out of the room.  He glanced over at the door to the main lobby, and started towards it.  “Well, the sooner it is five, the sooner it could become zero, and we can get out of the museum.”  
    He heard them make sounds of agreement as they left the room.  He was thankful to be out of the room, and as they went down the steps, he was glad he didn’t hear the Crystal Ixupi hiding in the chandelier.  However, that meant it had to be hiding else where for them to capture it.  He put that out of his mind as they headed towards the library.  
    When they entered the Library, Michael ran over to the ladder and started to climb it.  He heard Carl and Richard both come over to the base of the ladder, but he knew what he was after.  He quickly pulled out the pot for the Oil Ixupi, and quickly got down the ladder.  He then handed the pot over to Carl and watched as the two pieces became one.  
    When that was done, they all headed out, and towards the Mysteries of the Deep room.  As they walked, he looked at the reporter, and finally asked a question that was bothering him.  “Carl, if you don’t mind me asking, how did you get in to these supernatural situations?  Did you start looking for them?”  
    He head Carl laugh a bit, almost as if it was funny.  “The honest truth is that it started back in Las Vegas, and at first, I honestly thought it had been a madman thinking he was a vampire.  The more it played out, I slowly accepted it was the real deal.  In the end, some influential people made it look like it was a madman, and they forced me to take care of the vampire.  I’m still not able to set foot in Las Vegas, but I think some of those people are out of power.”  After Carl has said all that, he remembered that Carl had hinted to it earlier on.  
    He heard a low whistle come out of his friend’s mouth.  “I never knew any of that, Carl.  Yvette had managed to get a copy of the book about that, but she never told me any of those details.  I asked my father to find a copy, but he said it was out of print.”  
    As they entered the Mysteries of the Deep room, he saw Carl smile a weak smile.  “I can’t say that I’m totally upset about that.  Since the book dropped off the shelves, they haven’t been trying to find me.  I think they found a way to silence all the others, but I don’t want to dwell on that.”  
    Michael understood what Carl was saying, especially as they reached the back of the room.  Apparently some of the stories of Las Vegas being linked to the mob and such was true.  Only people like that would go that far.  Even in Las Vegas, he was sure the story of a real life vampire would have been viewed as a publicity stunt.  Most likely, before this adventure, Michael would have viewed it as a humorous story, perfect for Halloween time.  However, since his encounters with the Ixupi, he no longer believed that.  It unnerved him to think that creatures like that actually existed.  In fact, he was going to look at horror movies a bit differently from now on.  
    He put those thoughts out of his mind as he got to the organ, and inwardly he hoped he could concentrate on the tune.  Now all he needed was to hear the tune.  He looked over at Richard and Carl, and said, “I think this might be a three person task, especially since we don’t know where the door is.”  As the others looked around the room from the spot, he also wondered what would happen.  However, he was going to be prepared, especially if he needed to step back from the organ if it moved.  Soon, they would be on their way to the lowest level of the museum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally posted up on Fanfiction.net under my given name.


	14. Darkest Depths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio, having realized there was one more exhibit room to find, the begin their search in the most logical place, and their search pays off.

Chapter 14: Darkest Depths  
  
    Richard Cale blinked his eyes twice, trying to fight off sleep.  He needed to stay awake, since falling asleep now was still dangerous in the museum.  In his mind, the best things to do was to keep moving, and keep thinking.  He then stifled a yawn, and watched as Michael looked at the organ.  He knew his friend said the job would be a three person job, and he looked over at the Siren’s statue.  “So what do you suggest, Mike?”  
    He watched as his friend didn’t look away from the organ, and just answered the question.  “Richard, I want you to press the button that plays the Siren’s song.  It may take several plays before we get it right.  Carl, I think you should remain right in this area and watch the room.  Right now, I think there are too many hiding places for Ixupi in here.”  
    He glanced back at the reporter, and noticed him nodding in agreement.  “Indeed, besides, I can see the whole room from here.  If the door opens up in here, I’ll see it.”  Richard glance to where Carl was standing, and noticed the reporter was right.  From the back of the room, it was near impossible to not see every part of the room.  
    As he looked out at the room, he started to ponder where the door would open, knowing it was another of the building’s secrets.  It had to be in the room, but where would it be.  Would the organ raise up, or the sand castle slide away?  Of course, if it was the sand castle, they would have to face the Sand Ixupi, and from what he could see, it looked like the castle had a greenish hue to it.  
    He was broken out of his thoughts when Michael said, “Rich, push the button.”  He shook his head, and then pushed the button, hearing the Sirens sing their haunting song.  As he heard it play, he also heard Michael start pushing shells on the organ.  At first, it was obvious it was going to take time, since the notes that Michael played rarely matched the notes the Sirens sang.  
    The longer he listened, and looked at the statues, in his mind, they each started to look like Yvette.  He sighed, missing her and her long red hair.  Deep down, he swore he had an attraction for redheads.  Of course, the statues all started to match Yvette’s figure as well, and he just wanted to embrace them.  
    He was brought out of his musings when Michael shouted at him.  “Richard, push the button again.  I think I may be getting closer, but the song stopped.”  He looked back at the statue, and realized the song had ended.  He played it again, and tried to make sure he didn’t daydream again.  
    As the song played again, he heard Carl remark.  “Maybe he fell victim to the Siren’s song.  He looked like he was really staring at the statues.”  He could tell that by the tone of Carl’s voice, the older man could sympathize with what he was thinking.  
    Richard just nodded, and stifled a yawn.  “I did.  They just all looked like Yvette for a bit.  Made me wish she was here, just so I could hold her.  There were a few weekends we stayed up late, holding each other and talking.”  Deep down, he wasn’t sure if either wondered how far they had gotten, but the truth was they were both content with just casual contact.  He then sighed, wondering if the events of tonight might make them take their relationship to another level.  
    As Michael played the organ again, he heard Carl take a few steps back, towards him, saying, “I understand what you going through.  I swear if I look at those statues for too long, they look like Louise.  She had been a nice gal, a woman I loved, and I miss her too from time to time.”  Richard wanted to ask what happened to her, but decided not to.  
    After a moment, Richard realized the tune from the organ matched the Siren’s song, and it made him miss Yvette even more.  It also made him realize that when they got out of the museum, he would ask Yvette to go steady with him.  It wasn’t like they had already, but they might as well.  His thoughts ended, however, when he heard a loud sound, like a heavy door swinging open.  
    Before he could turn around, he heard Carl say, “Well, I had thought it would be there, but this confirmed it.”  When he turned, he saw the huge stone face had swung open, which told him the passage they were looking for was right behind it.  
    They all walked over to the entrance that just appeared, and Richard couldn’t believe what they were seeing.  Behind the stone face had been a stairway down.  Instantly, his thoughts were to the film they had all seen earlier in the theater.  The fact that the film was waiting in the projector now made complete sense.  Before either of the others could say anything, he was already rushing down the steps, almost stumbling when he reached the bottom.  He turned the corner just as heard Michael shout, “Rich, slow down.  We don’t know what is down there.”  
    Richard paid the words no heed as he rushed down to a lit area, which he could clearly see was a replica of the door in the movie.  Thanks to the rush of excitement, his tiredness was forgotten, and his mind quickly recalled the exact sequence.  As he pushed all the right spots on  the door, he heard the others catching up to him.  His friend was the first to say something.  “Rich, are you crazy?  You had no idea what was waiting down here.  There could have been some of those Ixupi’s waiting for you.”  
    He only answered when the door slid open, revealing a bright red room with multiple passages branching from it.  He looked at the others, and addressed Michael.  “Sorry, Mike.  I just had a feeling I knew what we would find was the door from the movie, and something tells me that right now, the Ixupi aren’t going to be that big of a threat in there.”  He glanced back at the room, and looked around for a moment, confirming in his mind that this was going to be the last step in finding the room they were looking for.  
  
    Michael McNeal crossed the threshold into the room, and looked around for a moment.  As he looked around, he realized that the room wasn’t what he was expecting.  He had been expecting to see the room with a tar pit in it, like he had seen on the screen they saw earlier.  However, that was entirely absent.  What they were in was a room with three other exits, other than the one they came in through.  He looked around for a moment, and then said, “So where is the exhibit that we saw on the screen?”  
    He watched as Carl walked to one of the exits, and looked in a bit.  He watched as the reporter looked around, before stepping back towards him.  “I’m thinking it’s on the other side of this maze.  If this is supposed to act as a portal to a subterranean world, a maze is a good defense.”  
    Michael glanced at Richard, who quickly pushed his glasses on his face, and nodded.  Michael knew Richard had been foolish to run ahead like he had, but now getting separated might be a dangerous, but only option.  He just sighed then and said, “So what do you think is the best course of action?  Split up and each take a different path?”  
    He watched as Carl shrugged, and then said, “Might work, if we could trust ourselves to stay in shouting distance.  However, I don’t know if it’s wise.”  
    He had to agree with Carl, but it might be the only option.  However, before he could agree to it, he heard Richard say something that surprised him.  “What about the old right hand rule?”  He looked at Richard, a bit surprised, but his friend continued.  “It’s something my father showed me when we went to one of the giant mazes they built.  You place your hand on the right hand wall, and then walk the maze.  It may take longer to solve the maze, but it gets you to the exit.  The only downside would be if the final chamber is in the center of the maze.”  
    Michael thought about if for a moment, and realized what his friend meant.  If the final chamber was in the middle, the right hand rule would take them around it.  However, it was a way they could remain together, and traverse the maze that they had encountered.  He took up a spot in the lead, and lead the way, keeping his hand on the wall.  A few times, he could have sworn he heard a woman calling for help, but realized that it was part of the sounds that was being played in the maze, even so many years later.  
    However, at one point, Michael froze when what sounded like the voice that spoke in all the rooms started to speak again.  “You will die like the others, and your deaths will free more of my brethren into your world, to complete the task we were meant to do.  Your friends will die, your loved ones will dies.”  
    Through out all of this, he never let anything bother him, but as the voice continued, he felt a wave of fear go through him.  “One of you will see a whole town die, worshipping a demon.  You’d do them a favor releasing us now.”  He wasn’t sure what that meant, but he was sure it was linked to his recent college hunting, even though the day he would go was some time away, but the forerunner in his selections was one in a town called Silent Hill.  
    He was broken out of his thoughts when Carl, who was directly behind him spoke.  “We can beat that thing.  Take this from a man who has faced down vampires, werewolves, zombies, and even the Devil himself.  We will survive.”  Those worlds from the veteran reporter strengthen his resolve to get out of the maze, and made him continue.  To be honest to himself, Michael could not think that anything could be worse than what was happening now.  
    His spirits started to lift when he head a new sound in the background.  It was similar to the sounds he heard from images of lava flows.  He started to quicken his pace, being careful not to go too far ahead.  Soon, they entered the very room they had seen from the camera.  In fact, as they entered, what he saw first was the only place an Ixupi could be hiding in the room.  Dividing the room into two parts, was a huge tar pit, and what made it worse was that it had a greenish glow, and that told Michael what he expected was there.  
    He looked back at Carl, and noticed that Richard was also looking at something else in the room.  He then looked over at the tar, and said, “Would you like to do the honors this time, Carl?”  
    He was almost amazed as Carl handed him the camera and said, “Certainly, in fact, I’m looking a little forward to it.”  He then watched as Carl held up the completed pot, and stepped onto the first rock that led across the tar.  He raised the camera as a bubbling tar sound started to come from the area, which told him the Oil Ixupi was about to strike.  He then snapped a picture, just as the foul beast rose up, and realized what Carl was holding.  
  
    Carl Kolchak watched as the Oil Ixupi roared, and found itself being pulled in to the pot he held.  As that happened, Carl felt the same sensations he had felt when he captured the Cloth Ixupi.  In fact, this time, he fell a bit younger than he was.  As the capture finished, Carl could have sworn that in all his time, and all his encounters with the supernatural, he never felt this good after beating one of them.  
    When the creature was captured, he turned around, and noticed a stunned look on Michael’s face, as well as seeing the photo coming out of the Polaroid Instamatic.  The first time any one of them had seen an Ixupi, Michael had the same appearance on his face.  Of course, that was also because the African-American boy had been attacked by the Water Ixupi.  This time, the stunned look was mixed with a good surprised look.  
    He realized what had stunned Michael, when the young man said, “Carl, you look like you’ve gotten younger.  If fact, your hair looks a little less gray.”  Carl was stunned by that, and he quickly grabbed the photo and watched it.  As it developed, he was surprised to see that Michael’s claims were correct.  He did appear younger, not drastically younger, but enough to make him feel a little more spry.  In fact, it reminded him of a story told to him by a British Journalist, but he was a little suspicious of her claims.  
    When he was over the shock, he heard Richard shout, “This is it.  The last one.”  He glanced over at the young man wearing glasses, and saw him turning what had to be the last skull dial.  It had been right next to a hideous looking creature.  In fact, by the look of it, it looked more robotic than natural.  
    He walked over and looked at the thing, and then at the plaque on the wall next to the creature.  It was nothing he had ever seen before, and doubt he would want to see it again.  He then looked at Richard, who had joined them standing there.  “Richard, do you have any idea what this thing is?”  
    He watched as the young man walked over to their side, and studied the creature.  After a few moments, he watched Richard shrug.  “Not a clue, although, after seeing the creature, I may want to look it up.”  Richard then turned to him and said, “You ever encounter something you’ve never heard of before, and then have to look it up.”  
    Carl smiled and nodded.  “Many times, Richard, many times.  Mind you, those times were some of the scariest. Some of those times even led me to do a little research after the fact.  Believe it or not, after my encounters with the Diablero, I did a little more research into the old Native American legends.”  He then thought back to the incident, remembering that it was Ron Updyke’s article that made him realize where the creature had been hiding.  After all that, and the encounter of the hospital incident, he read up on all the legends, surprised at how many there were.  
    He then looked over at the other side of the tar pit, and noticed the altar like structure, and saw the object on it.  It brought him fully out of his memories, and brought it to the others attention.  He quickly crossed the pit, and picked up the object, shouting, “Hey, I found a pot over here.  Anyone realize which one it is?”  
    He watched as the two young men crossed, and quickly crowded around the altar.  He noticed that Richard was gazing at the pot, and noticed the markings on it.  “If I remember right, this is the markings for sand, which makes this the pot for containing the Sand Ixupi.”  That made Carl smile, realizing the young man did have the same instincts that made him search for the truth.  
    Before Carl could say anything to the young man, he heard Michael say, “Hey guys, I think I just found a better way out of here, instead of navigating the maze again.  I don’t think we want to hear the Electric Ixupi again.”  Carl had to agree, since he could tell that Ixupi’s last taunt hit Michael very hard.  However, as Carl knelt down, and looked up the path, he noticed that the lights seemed to get dimmer the farther up they went.  
    He stepped back, and saw Richard do the same thing, hearing a sound on concern come from the boy.  “Mike, what’s the rule in horror movies regarding going into dark areas?”  
    He glanced at Michael, who kept a calm look on his face when he said, “It’s the same about going alone, but I’m also thinking that it might be best to go this way.  Remember, we took a chance going through the maze, and did you remember the path we took to get through the maze?”  He saw the other young man shake his head, and heard Michael mention another point.  “Besides, I remember something from the maps we saw.  I think there is a passage that leads to the main lobby.”  
    After hearing that, the stairwell made some sense, even if the ducking part was a bit inconvenient.  He glanced back at the stairwell, and then at the maze entrance, and sighed.  “All things considered, it might be best to climb the stairs.  Besides, if what Michael says is true, then a button might be made easy to see at the top to open the panel.”  He then pulled out a small flashlight from the camera bag, and took the lead.  “Let’s go.”  
    As they all headed up the steps, Carl was glad he pulled out the flashlight.  Once he turned it on, he could see the steps, but not much else.  However, as they neared the top, Carl could see a faint line of light, as if it was coming from under a door.  He could even see the button right next to it.  
    As he reached out to touch the button, he heard a growl, and heard Richard say, “What was that?”  He chanced a glance to his left side, and saw two glowing eyes.  He wasn’t sure if it was an Ixupi or not, but when a glowing mouth started to open, he quickly pushed the button, and bolted out the door that had opened.  
    He glanced back to see Michael bolt out second, quickly followed by Richard.  They all quickly got away from the door, as it sealed back up.  He reached up for a moment, to make sure his hat was still there, and then cursed himself thinking that they should have gotten a picture, but to be honest, he really didn’t want to chance himself, or the others to get it.  However he was glad about the fact that they now had captured half of the Ixupi in the museum, and it would not take long to capture the rest, especially since they had been in every room of the museum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter was originally posted up on fanfiction.net under my given name.


	15. Ixupi Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having got access to the whole museum, the trio now take the time to catch the Ixupi they haven't caught yet. Also, Carl's boss starts to worry about him, having not heard from Carl in hours.

Chapter 15: Ixupi Hunt  
  
    Michael McNeal was glad to be out of the spooky stairwell, and hoped they wouldn’t have to climb up it again.      After seeing that monstrous maw ready to devour them, he was becoming a believer that horror films could become real, not that he would admit it when he survived this night.  
    He started to get up, as his friend, Richard Cale, and reporter Carl Kolchak, were still catching their breath.  After that scare, and the fact they had been up all night, they needed to calm themselves down, but not to the point where they would fall asleep.  He started to pace, hoping the movement would not only help him think, but stay awake.  “Alright, let’s figure out where we stand for a moment.”  
    As he paced, he paused when he heard Richard say, “I’m not standing.  I’m still trying to catch my breath after almost being eaten.”  He glanced at his friend, just as the seriousness in his voice disappeared in a fit of giggles.  “Gee, that would just make everyone happy at school.”  
    Michael started to get a bit worried about his friend.  He had never heard Richard say anything like that before.  However, some of his concerns were appeased when Carl got up, and said, “That’s just the tiredness talking.  I know you can handle this.  Most other people would have lost their wits about now.  We are a special breed, albeit a reluctant one, but still special.  I’m sure there are soldiers who would not be able to cope with what we are dealing with here.”  
    He wasn’t sure if he agreed entirely with Carl, but he noticed the giggling Richard had been doing had calmed down.  He walked over as Richard slowly stood up, and yawned, causing them all to yawn.  When the yawn ended, he heard his friend apologize.  “Sorry about that.  When I start needing sleep, I get a bit silly.  But let’s get back to the here and now, and not the grim futures.  Where do we stand?”  
    Michael looked up at the lobby’s ceiling, letting his gaze fix on the chandelier the Crystal Ixupi attacked him from.  He could just see it right now, waiting to attack them again.  He even swore he saw a greenish tint in the chandelier, but put that out of his mind.  “As I can figure, we’ve captured half of the Ixupi in the building.  That should leave us with only five left in the building.  We also have found all the pots of the escaped Ixupi, and the spirit of the victims.”  
      He noticed Carl nodding in agreement.  “Right Michael, and in turn we can now exonerate Sir Windlenot from any wrong doing.  However, we are no closer to getting out, nor capturing the rest of the Ixupi.  The only thing we have to getting closer to catching the rest is this Ixupi pot from the Subterranean room, whose markings we‘ve identified as Sand.”  
    Michael watched as Carl pulled out the pot, and looked at it again.  This time, he took notice of the top of the pot, where the lid was supposed to match up.  Due to all their searching, he was sure they had found every pot and every lid.  However, he wasn’t entirely sure where he saw it.  
    He also noticed that Richard joined them in studying the pot.  Soon, he was stunned when Richard blinked twice and said, “I think that matches the lid we saw in the Alchemy Machine, up in the Inventions room.”  With the trek down from the highest levels of the museum, down to the depth, and the scare, Michael had hoped they wouldn’t have to go all the way back up again.  However, he was feeling that wasn’t the case when Richard confirmed his thoughts.  “Yes, the lid we saw up there is a match.  We head up there, complete this pot, and then capture the Sand Ixupi.”    
    He then headed over to the steps, and started up.  “Alright,” Michael said as she lead the way back up, “We’ll head up there, stopping at the tomb exhibit to leave the caught Ixupi off, and then get the lid for the pot.  Once we have the pot, where will be the closest place to catch that Ixupi?”  
    As they neared the chandelier, he heard Carl give an answer he didn’t want to hear.  “I think the only places we’ve seen sand was in the plant room, and maybe the Mysteries of the Deep room.”  Michael suppressed another groan, knowing it meant climbing up to the top floor, and back down to the main floor, passing the waiting Crystal Ixupi, he heard hiding above them.  
    When they all had passed the chandelier and entered the Tombs exhibit, he briefly let out a sigh of relief, and then watched as they placed all the pots they had completed into the Ixupi tomb.  As that was done, he heard Richard say, “You know, we should be able to recall where all the remaining things are.  We might be able to save our selves some grief, and speed things up, by using the secret passage when we can.  It will take us straight to the room the Sand pot’s lid is.”  
    Michael was glad to hear that, and walked over to the location of the hidden door.  He turned the leaf as Richard came from the Ixupi Tomb, and Carl followed.  He looked back at the others.  “Remember how to get to the room?”  When they both nodded, he started into the secret passage.  
    He quickly moved through the passages, avoiding the path to the fortune teller room, and other dead ends.  He made sure the others were still with him, since he still didn’t want to get separated from them.  Soon, they had climbed the steps and he opened the panel that lead to the Inventions room.  
    As they entered, and they headed for the machine they found the pot lid in, he heard Richard remark, “You know, all this time, I’ve never noticed the rooms each had some music playing.  I guess it was supposed to match with the theme of the room.”  
    He listened for a moment, and nodded.  “Yea, it does sound like it matches.  With all that was going on, I didn’t take notice either, except in the Inhumanities room.”  He noticed both Richard and Carl shuddered when they thought of the room next to the one they were in.  
    He then saw Carl grab the lid, and bring it over to him.  “Here is the lid, let’s hope it matches.”  He held up the pot, and wasn’t surprised when they fused together.  In fact, it was good news to him.  It meant another Ixupi would be captured.  After waiting for a moment, he was then surprised to hear Carl say, “Now, is there a quicker way down all the flights.  I don’t think we want to run through those passages again, at least right now, nor all the rooms if we know where to look.”  
    He was surprised when Richard spoke up.  “The elevator in the secret passage.  I think it’s the same one we saw in the passage that was behind the library.”  Michael remember that elevator, that they only stepped in to get the clue to open the door to the tower.  He nodded, and let Richard lead the way into the passage, and to the elevator.  
    When they reached the elevator, he watched as Richard went to work to open the elevator, he turned to look at Carl, and decided to ask a question that was starting to nag him since he first saw the Tomb exhibit.  “Hey Carl, do you ever get a feeling of dread, like something is trying to warn you that you may encounter something later.”  
    He watched as Carl nodded.  “I’ve had that feeling a lot in my life, Michael.  I remember one time, while walking through a museum in Las Vegas, before the vampire incident, getting a feeling of dread when looking at the dinosaurs.  Little did I know that in Chicago, I’d encounter something like that there.”  
    After hearing that, Michael wanted to mention his feelings when it came to the images of the Pyramids, but was interrupted when Richard said, “All aboard.”  He looked to see the elevator open, and they all entered.  
    Once Richard pushed the button, they felt it lower.  For the first time, he took notice of the elevator music, and how upbeat it sounded.  It was a welcome thing, with all the incidents during the night, and he could see how it could stick in one’s head.  Part of him even wanted to whistle along.  However, the trip was over before he even tried.  
    They all left the elevator, and made their way through the library, main lobby, and into the Animal room.  For a brief moment, he could swear he heard a metallic sound coming from a unicorn statue in the room.  He glanced over at it for a moment, and noticed the metal had a greenish tint to it, but then headed over to the Plant room.  They could catch the Metal Ixupi later.  
    Once they were all in the room, Carl handed him the Sand pot.  “I think you should have the honors this time, Michael.”  
    He glanced at both Carl and then Richard, who just shrugged.  “Hey, so far you’ve only caught one.  We’ve both caught two.  Besides, I can see it is in there.  The sand there has a greenish tint.”  
    Michael nodded in agreement, and held the pot in front of him as he got near the dirt.  Soon he heard the sound of sand flowing.  He took a deep breath, and said just as the creature started to form, “I hope this isn’t the wrong pot, or I’m going to be mad at you two.”  He then turned his gaze to the creature, which looked like it would attack, and then howled in fear.  Soon, the sand appeared to flow into the pot, and the creature was captured.  
  
    Carl Kolchak had snapped a picture as the Sand Ixupi was sucked back into the pot.  He was glad he was taking all the pictures, and hoped Tony wouldn’t put a stop to the story.  However, with the current trend in television, Tony might just let this story slide, especially with these pictures.  
    He put the camera away when Michael walked over to them.  “Six down.  Four more to go.  Any suggestions which one we should catch next?”  It was a good question, in Carl’s mind, since their choice would determine many things.  Many of those factors were where the Ixupi could hide, and remembering where the pots and lids were.  
    However, he was also getting tired, and hoped movement would keep them awake.  He glanced over at the door to the Animals room, and remembered what he heard.  “I think I heard the Metal Ixupi in the Animals room.  If I remember right, it was in the unicorn statue in there.”  
    He noticed that Richard was giving him and odd look.  “That’s odd, I thought the unicorn was in the Legends room.  However, I could be mistaken.  It is lucky that the pot was in the animal masks in the lobby.”  
    He watched as Michael was already to the door.  “Then what are we waiting for.  Let’s get the pot, and then get the lid….”  He noticed that Michael paused before continuing.  “…which I think is the one all the way on the bridge by the skull door.”  Carl let out a groan, since he knew it meant heading through the Inhumanities room again.  
    After a moment, they all headed through the Animal’s room, pausing for a moment to listen for the Metal Ixupi, but there was no sign of it.  Once they reached the lobby, Carl opened the center mask, and picked up the pot.  Afterwards, they headed up the Tomb room.  
    Once there, Carl watched as Michael placed the Sand pot on its place, and then headed to the secret passage, but a thought crossed his mind.  “You know, what is stopping those spirits from re-releasing their captured members.  One would think they would break the others free.”  
    As they started through the passageway, he was surprised to hear Richard come to a very thought out conclusion.  “Maybe the spell that binds each Ixupi to a pot, also prevents them from freeing a captured one.  I’m sure if we were to try and capture the Wood Ixupi in the Metal pot, it would scatter the pot after attacking us.  However, it would not touch one we had a captured Ixupi in.”  
    As they reached the third floor, he heard Michael chime in.  “I never thought of it that way.  You know how in stories, the villain goes to great lengths to protect what could hurt them the most.  They make sure you can’t access it with ease, and in the same way draw attention to it.”  
    Carl nodded.  “It is crazy, but true.  I once incurred the wrath of a headless specter because I wanted to return its head.  I succeeded, but I almost met the business end of a sword.  However, I think that would have made the officer investigate the killings very happy.”  He thought back to that officer, remembering how a character on a old television show looked very much like the cop.  
    As they passed through the Inventions room, and into the Inhumanities room, the conversation kept their minds off the rooms atmosphere.  He heard Richard speak next. “You must have made a few cops upset over the years.  Did they all believe your stories, or thought you were nuts?”  
    Carl gave a wry smile.  “Too be honest, I think a few did.  When it came to the Peremafait, the captain had to agree that I had given credible points to the times of the attacks, and the reasons for the attacks.  Even the cops in Vegas had to give my theories, even though at that time I had believed it was a man thinking he was a vampire, credence.”  He sighed at how they then used it to get him out of Vegas.  
    When they finally reached the bridge, he couldn’t believed that the conversation had them bypass the rooms without taking notice of the sounds.  He then reached down, and picked up the lid which instantly fit to the pot.  He was about to turn and leave when he saw Richard approach the skull door, with all the skulls glowing.  
    Before either he or Michael could say anything, Richard had pushed the door open, and they were all surprised by what they saw.  The next room was plain, with just a round stone on the wall with two hieroglyphs on it.  It also appeared a part of the floor was wooden, but nothing else.  
    While Carl watched Richard observe the room, with almost a pose mimicking the actors who had played Sherlock Holmes, he heard Michael say, “It’s just a dead end.  Kind of anti-climatic.  I was expecting something more thrilling, but at least there are no Ixupi in there.”  
    Something in his gut told him Michael was incorrect, but it wasn’t until Richard spoke that he knew he was right.  “There is something more to that room.  There is a surprise in that room, and once we solve the riddles we saw earlier, we can find out what that room means.”  He then watched as Richard started to leave the room.  
    He and Michael quickly caught up, as Richard lead the way through the Inhumanities Room.  Carl had a feeling what Richard was thinking, but cautiously said, “You think the missing Riddle will lead to the reason of the room?”  
    He watched as Richard nodded.  “It’s playing a key part.  Why else would the riddles be so hard to find.  Unless they weren’t intended to be difficult to find.”  Carl wondered that as well, since the third riddle was missing, unless it wasn’t meant to be hard to find.  
    As they neared the exit of the room, Michael said something that made him realize Michael had the same idea.  “What if the page was hidden by those creatures?  That would mean there is a bigger reason for this.  But what would it be?”  
    Before they could leave the Inhumanities room, the announcers voice came to life.  “So you would accept your fates and die.  Your kind is a plague that needs to be rid of.  You have brought so many others misery, Carl.”  Carl felt his blood boil at that, as well as a bit of remorse.  It was true that sometimes his investigations had impacts on others, one was the temporary job loss of his friend, and editor, Anthony Vincenzo, but he always bounced back.  
    However, before he could tell the creature off, he heard that it changed it’s focus.  “And you, Richard, I see some of the thoughts in your mind about that girl.   We would be doing her a favor killing you.”  He glanced at Richard, who was turning beat red.  Carl could only wonder how long Richard and Ron’s niece had been together, and didn’t want to ask how far they went.  
    He quickly put his hand on Richard’s shoulder, who was now not going to be much of a help until he calmed down.  He then looked at Michael and said, “Open the door, and lets get out of this room.  We need to book it out of this area.”  
    He watched as Michael nodded, and then opened the door out of the room.  As they ran out, Carl heard the Electric Ixupi say, “Yes, Michael, lead them to their doom.  If you don’t forfeit yourself to us, that will be the fate of any who follow you.”  He was glad when Michael didn’t react, and even more glad when he closed the door, and they started through the rest of the museum.  
    As the moved through the Inventions room, he noticed that Michael started to head towards the secret passage, Carl shook his head.  “It’s better we take the long way down.  One, I don’t think we want to go any place with minimal lighting right now.  Two, taking the elevator is out of the question, since I’m sure Richard is in no mental shape to solve the puzzle.  And three, if we come across the Metal Ixupi in another hiding spot, we can nab it.”  
    He watched as Michael nodded in agreement, and headed towards the door to the Planetarium.  He was stunned when Michael took a step back and said, “Lead the way.  I think I should step back for a moment.”  Carl nodded, a bit surprised, since he was sure Michael hadn’t been affected by the creature’s words.  However, as they continued through the Planetarium and the following rooms, he noticed that Michael was trying to stay along side him and Richard.  
    Finally, by the time they had reached the Shaman room, Michael spoke up.  “You don’t think what that thing said is true, that I’m going to lead people to their doom.”  Carl thought about it for a moment, and shook his head.  He noticed it made Michael feel better.  “Thanks.  I really think I could, if this crazy situation were to play out again, keeping everyone safe that I came across.  Mind you , I don’t want anything like this to play out again.”  Carl could understand where Michael was coming from, but to be honest, he highly doubted it.  
    Just as they started towards the door to the Tombs room, he heard Richard finally speak, “How did that thing know?”  Carl looked at Richard, and stopped, seeing that Michael had done the same.  He realized that Richard had been referring to the fact that the Ixupi had somehow deduced how Richard felt about his girlfriend, Yvette.    
    They had reached the lobby before he could even ask, but as they descended the steps, he heard Michael say, “Rich, any ideas on other possible hiding places for the Metal Ixupi?”  He watched as the young man started to walk around the central display case.  
    He wasn’t sure why Michael even asked that question, until the other young man quietly said to him.  “He’s not aware of it, but I once saw them kissing in the library.  I didn’t say anything, mainly because I didn’t want to embarrass them, but while they were kissing, their hands were wandering a bit.  Nothing indecent, but signs that they are in love.”  
    Carl could now understand why Richard was unnerved, having been in similar situations.  Of course, at his age, he had done more than Richard and Yvette had done, but he was glad they weren’t as active as he had been.  He then quietly said to Michael, “I’m sure if he were to know, he’d thank you for not saying it out loud.  I won’t say a word.  I just knew the words hit him hard, and it had to be that he really cares for her.”  
    He would have said more, but it was at that moment that Richard stopped at the far end of the display case.  “There was all the movie cans in the Projection room, as well as the clock chains in the Clock Tower.  If I remember right, there was a suit of armor in Professor Windlenot’s room as well.  I even think there was some scrap metal in the hidden passageway.”  
    Carl let out a whistle as the thought of running all over the museum to capture the Metal Ixupi could be a tricky matter.  All this time, they were sure that the Ixupi would only pick specific places.  Now he was sure they were thinking the same thing, the hunt for the remaining Ixupi could be much harder.  
    Finally Carl headed for the door to the Animals exhibit.  “Well, before we start trying to chase it around, hoping to find the correct hiding place at the right time, let’s check the metal unicorn.”  He heard the two follow him, and they all entered the room.  
    As he walked over to the statue, his ears were assaulted by the sound of what he guessed to be sheet metal rubbing together.  He knew what it meant, and held out the Metal Pot in front of him.  Soon, the creature jumped out, and howled in anger as it realized it was being pulled into its prison.  Soon, the creature was captured, and for a moment, Carl felt like he was years younger, even though he was sure he didn’t look it.  He was sure, however, that they had only three more Ixupi to catch.  
  
    Richard breathed a sigh of relief after the Metal Ixupi was captured.  Now, there were only three Ixupi left in the museum.  Of those three, he felt like they couldn’t get the Electric Ixupi yet, and their only other choices were the Wood Ixupi and the Crystal Ixupi.  Now all they needed to do was decide which one to go after.  
    He then glanced over at his friend, who still looked ten years older than he actually was, and he knew the choice was clear.  Just as Carl put the Metal Ixupi pot away, Richard spoke.  “Hey, why don’t we catch the Crystal Ixupi next.  That way, both Michael and I will be back to our normal appearances.”  
    He watch as Michael’s eyes lit up, realizing what Richard was saying.  “Of course.  During all this, I almost forgot about catching the Crystal Ixupi.”  He then watched as Michael let a scowl cross his face.  “However, I think I just remembered where both parts of the Crystal Ixupi’s pot are.”  
    Richard thought about it for a moment, and remembered where the pot was.  “The bottom part is up in the clock tower.”  
    He then heard Carl let out a groan.  He turned just as the reporter said, “And the lid is back in the Planetarium.  This is going to be a long trek.  I really hope we don’t have to do too much more climbing tonight.  At this rate, we may collapse from exhaustion before we can finish capturing the Ixupi.”  
    Richard nodded in agreement.  He had walked to the museum from his home.  It was a good mile or so, but it was a walk he was used to making.  Of course, he usually only looked around for a bit, and then walked home, or to Yvette’s, but he was never gone more than an hour or two.  He had never expected to be climbing up and down several flights of steps.  
    Despite that, he opened the door back to the lobby.  “Maybe, but if we don’t keep going, we will end up trapped in here.  I’m beginning to think that the Ixupi allowed us to enter, but kept the doors locked so others can trap more potential victims.”  In his mind, he knew it was horrifying, and showed that the creatures had a level of intelligence that they never considered this whole time.  
    As they ventured through the lobby, and into the theater, he started to wonder if other supernatural creatures were the same.  As they continued into the tower, he slowed down to walk alongside Carl.  If anyone would know, it would most likely be the reporter.  “Hey Carl, have you ever encountered something like this before?  Where a group of supernatural creatures work or seem like a family?”  
    He heard Carl sigh, and the reporter took off his hat again.  “You may not know this, but for a few months, the service I was working for fired me.  As it happened, it was at that time I was contracted by someone in the town of Collinwood.  As it turned out, the story of my adventure in Las Vegas had reached them, mainly because the vampire I killed was sired by a vampire they sired.  Mind you, some time had passed, and they had been cured of their vampirism, and they wanted to congratulate me on destroying a very evil vampire.”  
    As they reached the top of the tower, Richard heard Michael comment.  “You mean to say that vampires can be good.  That doesn’t even sound right.”  
    He watched as Carl nodded in agreement.  “I thought the same way, but after talking with him, I found out a lot about his life, and how he has fought some other creatures.  When I left Collinwood, I had been contacted by my former editor, and was informed I was back on the payroll.  Apparently, the former vampire had contacted them and asked for me to be reinstated.  He stated he would also allow a special interview, which was something he never gave.  Since then, I’ve walked a narrow road, but did my best to make it work.  Plus, with the recent popularity of shows like Unsolved Mysteries, my editor’s bosses smile upon the occasion weird story.”  
    Richard was stunned by that news.  However, it wasn’t as important as the Crystal pot that Michael now held.  He glanced at his friend, who now had the pot in his hands, when they asked, “Now, where was the lid again?”  
    Richard closed his eyes for a moment, to think, and he briefly thought Yvette was rubbing his back.  She would do that when they were studying together.  It would distract them a bit, but it made him feel good.  In fact, he didn’t want to open his eyes, but when he heard Michael yelling, “Richard, wake up.  We need to find the lid to this pot,” he came back to reality.  
    He shook his head for a moment, to wake himself up, and apologized.  “Sorry about that, I didn’t expect to nod off.  Anyhow, I think the lid to that pot is in the UFO in the Planetarium.  Then, we’ll have to find the right hiding spot to catch it at.”  
    He watched as Michael motioned towards the ladder back down to the stairs.  “Alright then, Rich, lead the way.”  Richard swallowed, and then led the way.  To be honest, he never liked being a leader, but he didn’t like being a follower either.  He also knew that the guy in the lead was always a target.  
    They quickly went down the tower, and crossed through the theater and climbed the steps in the lobby.  As they neared the top of the steps, Richard glanced at the chandelier, and noticed it’s greenish tint.  It was obvious that the Ixupi they were going to catch was in there.  However, he knew it was dangerous to stare too long at it.  
    Once they were in the Tomb room, he heard Carl say, “Before we go any farther, let’s put the Metal Ixupi with the others.”  He nodded, and watched as the reporter put the pot with the others.  
    As they then continued through the museum, the walk helped Richard stay awake, although he was sure his thinking would be impaired a bit.  He was even starting to feel jumpy around all the statues.  The shaman statue startled him for a moment, as well as the wooden statue in the Gods room.  However, he put that out of his mind.  They needed to capture the Crystal Ixupi now.  
    As they passed through the Myths and Legends room, he paused for a moment.  It was the sight of the horse, that caught his eye.  He heard the others move past him for a moment, but for some reason he looked at it.  He wasn’t sure, but part of him swore the horse was Pegasus now, instead of a unicorn, but he just could be sure.  The one thing he  was sure of was that he heard something.  
    After a moment, he heard Michael say, “Rich, we are all tired and need to focus.  We need to get up to the Planetarium.”  Richard then brought his mind back to the task, and turned towards the door.  During that turn, he realized what the sound was.  The sound was of timber creaking, and it was the sound the Wood Ixupi made before it attacked.  He had turned to face it’s hiding spot, and it came out of the wood that was by the statue, looking like an animated tree stump.  
    As its claws raked his body, and left no physical scar, a cold chill went through him as he felt paralyzed.  However, he felt two pairs of hands grab him.  He was aware of Carl shouting, “I should have seen that coming.  We got so focused on capturing the Crystal one, and so tired, we forgot about the Wood one.  Let’s get him to the steps.”  
    Soon, he was dragged out to the steps to the Planetarium, and he inwardly cursed himself for falling prey like that.  However, it did wake him up more.  When he finally could move again, he got up and said, “I shouldn’t have walked into that.  I should have remembered that one was still about.”  
    As he started to climb the steps, he heard Michael say, “Hey, we are getting tired.  At least the Ixupi don’t outnumber us now.”  Richard had to agree to that, but it made him eager to capture that one.  He had recovered from the last attack he fell victim to, and now was back to the same state that Michael was in, and so close to when Michael would be back to normal.  
    When they reached the UFO, he watched as Michael grabbed the lid, and then turned to go back the way they had come from.  However, he started towards the door to the Inventions room.  
    As he opened the door, he heard Carl.  “Hey, we should go back the way we came.  Unless you think it’s quicker to go the secret passage.”  Richard nodded, and watched as the two followed him.  
    They quickly enter the passageway, and Richard lead the way to the elevator.  After the attack, his mind was racing, and the puzzle to open the elevator was easy, even though the puzzle was increasingly difficult than before.  Time seemed to fly by as the elevator opened, and they rushed down to the lobby.  
    Once they reached the lobby, Richard looked towards the chandelier, and was shocked to see it was no longer tinted green.  As he looked, he wonder where else the creature could be, since he only remembered that being the only crystal object.  
    As he stared on, he heard Carl say, “I just remembered something.  In the Mysteries of the Deep room, I think they had power crystals in there.  Maybe our fleeing Ixupi is down there.”  He quickly nodded, and followed Carl, and Michael, into the next room, and down into the Mysteries of the Deep room.  
    Once they arrived, he watched as Michael went down the side wall, and stopped before the very display.  He had already noticed the green tint in the yellow crystals, and wasn’t surprised when the creature jumped up, only to try and flee from its prison.  Its attempted escape was thwarted, and as the creature entered the pot, Richard smiled as Michael returned to his normal age.  That also meant there was only two Ixupi left, and he was certain which one they would catch next.  
  
*******************************************  
  
    Tony Vincenzo sighed as he got up from the couch he had in his office.  To be honest, that office was a home away from home, especially when Carl was on an assignment.  Of course, that was because of Carl’s history.  Despite that, Tony always kept Carl on the payroll, and if he couldn’t, he’d find a way to get him back.  It wasn’t because Carl was a bad reporter, or had a tendency to find the wild stories, but it was because Carl did his job.  
    Now, with the latest trend in media, and shows, Carl’s crazy stories were becoming popular.  Deep down, he had wished that he had managed to keep copies of the old stories, but that wasn’t likely.  He even thought Ron, being the person he was, would have kept some copies of those stories, however Ron said he didn’t know about the old stories.  
    Tony then peeked his head out of his office, and looked at the few workers there at this hour and shouted, “Anyone hear from Kolchak?”  When all shook their heads, Tony grumbled in disgust.  When he didn’t hear from Carl, it was a sign that something big and weird was coming.  
    He then went over to his desk, and saw the paper his boss had handed him.  It was the reason he sent Carl on the assignment in the first place.  His boss had found out that one of the real life mystery shows was going to do an episode on some disappearances that had happened fifteen years ago.  It also involved a museum that was devoted to the unusual things.  That was another reason his boss suggested the story go to Carl.  
    However, Tony did want the story to go to Ron, since Ron would stick to the story, and maybe elaborate on the museum, but he had left to visit family.  Deep down, he was afraid that Carl might try to get to the bottom of the mysterious disappearances, and even try to put some supernatural spin on them.  
    For a brief moment, Tony chuckled to himself.  If Carl did manage to do that, they would have a scoop on the show.  However, if it did have a supernatural angle, he worried that Carl might not be coming back.  He then sighed again, and looked at the phone.  As he looked at it, he just thought, _“Carl, I hope you call when you can?”_   He then returned the getting the day’s paper going, and hoped it would keep his mind off the worry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally posted on Fanfiction.net, under my given name.


	16. Wood Riddles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the trio continues their hunt, they end up nabbing all but the Electric Ixupi, and in the process, they figure out that what they need to capture the last Ixupi will be revealed when they solve the last riddle in the chain.

Chapter 16: Wood Riddles  
  
    Carl Kolchak smiled for a moment as Michael McNeal looked like his normal self.   Through out this night, he had seen each one of the two boys appear to age after an Ixupi attack, only to be restored when they caught the Ixupi that had attacked them.  Now that Michael was back to normal, it was time to get Richard Cale back to normal as well.  He also had a feeling what their next course of action would be.  
    He looked at the two young men, doing a mental count of how many Ixupi were left, and spoke.  “Good job, Michael.  That means eight Ixupi are captured, and leaves only two left.  I’m sure you know which one should be next to capture.”  
    Without missing a beat, Carl heard Richard come to the conclusion.  “We need to capture the Wood Ixupi.  Once we have that one caught, we can hunt down the Electric Ixupi.”  He was proud of how sharp the young man was, especially given they had been up for more than half the night.  He glanced down at his watch, and almost did a double take.  If his watch was correct, it was past three in the morning.  
    Before he could even mention the time, Michael looked at the complete Crystal Ixupi’s vessel, and said, “First things first.  Let’s get this one back to the Tomb Exhibit.  Besides, I think part of the Wood Ixupi’s pot is in the same area.”  Carl thought about it for a moment, and realized Michael was right.  Part of one of the pots was in the Egyptian sarcophagus in the Tombs display area.  They all started up the steps out of the Mysteries of the Deep room, with one area in mind.  
    As they passed through the Strange Animals room, Carl glanced around the room, wondering if the Wood Ixupi might be hiding anywhere in the room.  He then put that out of his mind, and really looked around the room as they passed through.  While to most, Professor Windlenot might have appeared odd, the museum was actually very nice.   If the Ixupi weren’t running about, he was sure that it would have been a good tourist attraction.  Even now, with the shows that were becoming popular, the museum could revitalize the town.  
    While they crossed the main lobby, to climb up the steps, he realized Michael was coming to the same conclusion.  “You know, without those things running about, this place would be a nice place to visit.  However, I don’t know how many people would handle the Inhumanities room.”  With the last words, he saw Michael show a bit of a shiver.  
    Almost in response, he heard Richard agree.  “I think it’s more of the background music that is playing in the room.  That would be enough to unnerve anyone.”  Carl nodded in agreement to that statement.  He knew full well that some sights and sounds were enough to bother even the toughest man.  He knew of very few people who would not be unnerved by the sounds of tortured screams.  Those he was sure might not be unnerved were either in an asylum, or with their master down in Hell.  
    He put those thoughts out of his mind as they entered the Tombs room.  It was time to focus again on what was important, surviving what was left of the night.  As Michael walked over and placed the Crystal Ixupi’s pot in the display, he noticed that Richard was already looking around the corner to where the sarcophagus was.  
    He understood why Richard was cautious.  Even though only two Ixupi were left, if there was an exposed wire, or a board lying around, one of those two items could be an ambush.  Of course, he doubted there was much risk of that.  Even Michael appeared to be more at ease, especially as the young man said, “Only two more empty spots left.  Now let‘s capture the Wood Ixupi.”  
    He then followed as Richard ran over to the sarcophagus display in the room, and quickly pulled out the Wood pot.  Once the lad had the pot in his hands, he could see that he was trying to remember where the other part was.  Carl even tried to remember, but he knew it was going to be difficult.    
    As he thought, he watched as Richard appeared to realize where they needed to go.  He stepped back as the young man ran from the sarcophagus, and over to the secret door.  “I just remember when that other part is.  It’s in the Janitor’s closet.”  
    He and Michael quickly followed, and ran to keep up with the sudden burst of energy that Richard had gotten.  Carl figured that burst of energy came from the fact that soon the young man would have his youth back.  He had to admit that while none of the Ixupi had attacked him, he had felt a bit younger after catching them, and he wondered if it was a side effect of catching the evil creatures.  
    He put that thought aside as they reached the exit to the passageway that led to the Inventions room.  As they passed through and into the Space exhibit, he heard Michael ask and important question.  “Once we have the pot together, where are we going to capture the Wood Ixupi.  There must be a ton of places it can hide in here.”  
    Carl nodded as they headed down the stairs that led to the Janitor’s closet.  “He’s right Richard.  Do you think we’ll be lucky enough to stumble onto it at its last hiding spot?”  Deep down, Carl thought the odds of them finding it at the same location was slim, giving how many other wooden things were in the museum.  
    As they passed the door that lead to the room where they last encountered the Wood Ixupi, he saw Michael look over, and gasp.  “I think the odds are very good.  I can see the wood planks where it attacked from, and they are glowing green.  Rich, you better move quick.”  
    That fast, Carl watched Richard run into the Janitor’s closet.  At the moment he reached the door, Richard was coming out, holding the completed pot.  He then turned to follow Richard, staying at a safe distance to photograph what he was sure he was going to see.  
    He heard Michael follow, but stopped him as the scene played out.  The second Richard had reached the wooden planks, the creature started to emerge from the wood.  Carl could have sworn it looked like some mutated tree stump, and as it appeared, it roared in pain and fright.  Soon, the creature was pulled into the pot, and in that moment, Richard appeared to be his normal self again, as the creature was captured.  Carl was glad, not only at the good fortune that there was only one Ixupi left, but also that he got a photo at just the right moment.  
  
    Michael smiled as his friend now looked his proper age.  It was a good sign, especially as he wondered about how long they had been in the museum.  He was sure the night was more than half over, and he was sure he’d remember it for a long time, not that he’d want to admit to it.  
    However, they needed to get back to the task at hand.  He took a brief look at the lights in the room, and then said what he was sure they were all aware of.  “Nine Ixupi down, which means only one left to capture.  Now all we need to do is get the remain pieces together and capture the one we figure is the ring leader.  Let’s head down to the Legends of the Deep room and get the bottom first.”  
    As he was about to lead the way, he noticed Carl wasn’t moving, as if he was deep in thought.  Before he could even ask what was on the reporter’s mind, the reporter voiced his thoughts.  “Not to put a dampener on things, but I was just doing some mental calculations, and I’ve only counted ten vessel bottoms, and only nine lids.  I think we are missing one lid, and I don’t think we’ve seen it anywhere.”  
    Michael thought about it for a moment, and realized Carl was right.  All the time they were going through the museum, they never saw the remaining lid.  If they couldn’t find that lid, they couldn’t leave the museum in it’s current state.  The way the world was, everything ran on electricity.  If that Ixupi got out, the world was in terrible peril.  
    For a brief moment, he wasn’t sure what to do, until Richard looked back the way they had recently came, and said something that surprised him.  “You know, we haven’t looked in every room in the museum.  There is one room that none of us has entered, but one of us has seen the entrance to.”  
    For a moment, Michael was unsure of what Richard meant, and had to think about it.  He was certain they had been in every room in the museum, and saw every possible hiding spot.  They had even found the pots containing Professor Windlenot and the two teens, as well as their corpses.  
    Michael’s eyes went wide at the last thought.  They had not found all the corpses.  They had not found Beth’s corpse.  They also had not seen their next riddle in the riddle chain they found earlier in the night.  He looked at the others and said, “I complete forgot about that, as well as the other things we’ve noticed.  We haven’t found Beth’s body, or the missing page, which has the riddle.  I bet they are in the last room we haven’t looked in, the power room.”  
    He watched as Carl took off his hat and ran his hand through his thinning hair.  “I forgot about that door.  And if I remember the note that we had found earlier, Beth was going to hide down there.  I bet all our answers are down there.”  
    He watched as Richard started back towards the stairs up.  “I think you are right, and our quickest way down will be to head up to the secret passage.”  He gasped as Richard said that and started to head back to the stairs to the Planetarium.  
    He and Carl quickly followed Richard, especially as Carl spoke.  “Richard, either we are all getting very tired, or you are.  How is heading up the best way to go down?” Michael had been thinking the same thing.  If they need to go down, then they should be heading back through the museum.  
    Almost without missing a beat, he heard his friend’s response, and it made sense.  “Well, we could take the long way, or we could go in the secret passage, and take the elevator down to the passage that leads to that power room.”  
    That fast, Michael realized what Richard meant.  It would take less time for them to get down there than if they made their way through the entire museum.  He also figured it would help keep Richard’s mind active, doing the puzzle to enter the elevator.  It made complete sense to go that way.  
    However, as they reached the top of the steps, and into the space themed room, he noticed the lights seemed a little odd, as if something was causing the lighting in the room to go haywire.  He then realized why it was happening when the recorded voice came out distorted.  “You still fight your fate.  You need to come to your senses, and give up your lives so we can cleanse your world.  Do you not realize the horrors you, and those you care for are destined for?  I will show you, so you can avoid them and correct your mistakes here.”  
    Soon, the lights appeared to be focused on a few objects, and Michael’s attention was drawn to the spacesuit.  He was sure it was still the space suit, however it appeared different.  The lighting had somehow made it appear to be a deformed man, whose face looked like an amalgamation of all their faces.  He backed away, even though he knew it was just a trick.  There was no way something could appear so horrid, but in his mind, he also knew this whole situation with the Ixupi defied all explanation as well.  
    He cut his thoughts short when he heard Carl shout, “Mike, let’s get out of here.   I think your friend just had another shake up.”  He turned to see Carl rushing Richard out the door to the Inventions room.  He quickly turned and followed, briefly catching a glimpse of what appeared to be a man in a hat like Carl’s trapped in a drawing.  He wondered why that bothered Richard, but decided not to dwell on it now.  
    As they all ran out of the room, he was surprised to see Carl already pushing on the switch to the secret passageway, and quickly followed them into it.  He could tell Richard was also starting to calm down.  As they neared the elevator, he hoped Richard would be calmed down enough to be able to work the puzzle to let them into it.  
    For a moment, once they reached the elevator, he wondered if Richard would snap out of what ever had shocked him.  All he noticed was someone wearing Carl’s hat, and wondered if Richard was in shock over concern for the reporter’s future.  However, before he could ask, he saw Richard shake his head, before starting on the puzzle.  “Sorry about that.  I’ll get this puzzled figured out quickly.”  
    As his friend worked on the puzzle, he looked at Carl and softly asked, “Did he see some sort of image of a horrid fate for you?”  He was stunned when Carl just shook his head, and realized what the image must have been.  He took a step backwards in shock, softly saying, “No wonder he got spooked.  That thing made me see some monstrosity of a man.”  
    He just watch as Carl nodded, and then said, “As I was looking up, I noticed an image in the ceiling.  The closest thing I can figure is that it was some creature from the works of Lovecraft.  I’d hate to think those things are real.”  Michael was unfamiliar with the writer in question, but he had remembered hearing someone mention them.  
    Before he could even ask anymore about it, he heard the elevator open.  He then watched as Richard stepped in and said, “All aboard, now heading down, and stopping at the ground floor.”  Michael quickly got on, followed by Carl, and the elevator slowly made it’s way down.  
    During the elevator ride, Michael wondered again about the image he saw.  It was such a fear inducing image, but also such an inconceivable sight, there was no way it could ever be real.  However, the more he told himself that, something kept nagging at him that it could be very real.  Deep down, that worried him, especially as he thought about the Ixupi.  
    He stopped thinking about it when the elevator reached its destination and opened up.  Soon, he fell into step as Carl lead the way through the passage, down the steps, and into the power room.  It was the only room in the whole museum that they had yet to see, and given some of the exhibits, he did expect something more than what he did see.  
    The power room looked almost like a store room, with just a few minor supplies in the room.  He also noticed a closed door, and he was sure he heard the sound of a generator behind it.  He also noticed a small alcove with an open fuse box.  Those two items combined made Michael worry.  With only the Electric Ixupi left, this room was the creature’s lair.  “Hey, I just thought of something.  With all the equipment in here, I think this is the Electric Ixupi’s lair.  We could be ambushed at any moment.”  
    He noticed the Richard was staring at the wall where the fuse box was, but Carl had stepped back a moment, since he was close to the door the generator was behind.  “I think you might be right.  Not the first time I’ve seen a creature use such a bland lair.  However, something also tells me that there is something else here, and if all the stuff on the stairs is a sign, it’s Beth’s body.”  
    It was then Michael noticed that Richard was touching a switch in the fuse box, and then jumped back.  Before he could warn his friend, electricity appeared to shoot out of the fuse box.  In that moment, he heard his friend respond to Carl’s thoughts.  “I think you are right, and I think she’s right under the fuse box.”  In that moment, the electricity appeared to flow down, and cause the wall underneath it to crumble, revealing another corpse.  He also noticed the Richard had a grin crossing his face, and saw the reason as Richard quickly snatched a paper out of the corpse’s hand.  
  
    Richard was glad he had took the risk touching the fuse box.  Deep down, he was sure it had been the right thing to do, but until he saw the corpse, he wasn’t sure.  All he knew was that the wall underneath the fuse box had looked different, as if it were fake.  He had been right when he saw the wall crumble, revealing where Beth had been entombed, however who had done that remained a mystery.  
    The more important thought on his mind right now was the page she had been holding.  He was glad it hadn’t ripped when he took it from her corpse’s hand, especially as he knew what it had on it.  It was the missing riddle.  He was certain the riddle on this page would lead them to what they were missing, the only question was how.  
    He looked over the words again, as both Michael and Carl came over and looked over his shoulder.  He also noticed that Michael was also trying to look over where Beth’s corpse was, in hopes of finding the missing piece of the Electric Ixupi’s pot.  That was something Richard was certain would not be there.  
    Soon Carl reading some of the word aloud made something click in his mind.  “ ‘A noble punishment.’  Is that some sort of hint that we have to go all the way back up to the Inhumanities room.”  That quick, the answer had come to him.  He knew what the riddle meant.  
    He ran for the door, and said, “That’s it, Carl.  In that room is, hopefully, the last clue, which I’m betting will lead us to the missing piece.”  He quickly exited the room, and started to run back to the elevator.  
    As he ran, he heard Michael and Carl following close behind.  He knew they were just trying to keep everyone together, which was still wise, but he had a feeling that with all but the Electric Ixupi captured, the risk was minimal now.  However, he slowed down, knowing full well that since there was still some risk, it would be unwise to be alone right now.  
    Once they were all at the top of the steps, he heard Michael ask the important question.  “So what did you figure out that the answer is in the Inhumanities room?  I hope we can find it quick, because that room is very disturbing.”  He had to agree with his friend on that one, but he was sure Michael would agree once he explained the key words in the riddle.  
    He showed both men the page again, as they went to the elevator.  “The key phrases are ‘A Noble Punishment’ and ‘Relinquish your head’.  One of the most interesting ways that man has come up with for executing a criminal was developed in France.  A device called the Guillotine.  It was developed as a more humane way of execution, since cutting off the head with an axe was barbaric and could take many swings to finish the job.”  
    He noticed that Carl was rubbing his neck at that moment, as was Michael.  He wanted to as well, but tried to fight the sensation as he continued.  “The device was developed by a noble man before the French Revolution.  Eventually, the noble man fell victim to the device during that time, but the device stayed in use until this day.  I remember a model of it being in the Inhumanities room.”  
    When they reached the elevator, he started in on the puzzle key as Carl spoke.  “That’s a bit ironic, and to make it more ironic, we have to go back to the one room none of us want to really visit again.  But, what do you think will be revealed when we get there, another riddle?”  
    To be honest, Richard didn’t know what to expect.  However, as the elevator opened, he heard Michael voice an opinion on what they should expect.  “Maybe it will open a panel revealing the missing piece of the Electric Ixupi’s vessel.  If that one is the boss of them all, it could have planned this as a possible trap.  One we’d have to risk to get the thing needed to trap it.”  
    Richard swallowed thinking of the possible scenarios as they all got in and rode to the top.  If something on the guillotine model opened a panel, it might be near the electric chair, which if they had left it on, could kill them if they touched it, or allow an ambush from the one Ixupi left.  Another scenario was much more devious, that being another riddle.  There might be more riddles to endure, enough to even make them give up.  
    When the elevator reached the top floor, he realized something.  The riddles were not created by the Ixupi, but by Professor Windlenot.  If the Ixupi had exploited the riddles, it might have been as a failsafe to ensure they wouldn’t all be captured.  Richard sighed and then said, “Ok, let’s assume for a moment it leads us to the missing piece, where do we go to catch the final Ixupi?”  
    As they walked from the elevator and through the passages and Inventions room, Michael and Carl both answered simultaneously.  “The Generator room down in the basement.”  Richard stopped for a moment and looked at the two.  
    After a moment, as they entered into the Inhumanities room, Carl broke the silence.  “It’s not the first time a creature has been beaten in its lair.  I’ve done it a few times.  They have a sense of security while in that area.  Of course, some don’t see where their attacker is coming from.  They think they have security in their abilities, and their lairs.”  
    As they neared the model, he heard Michael voice his own thoughts.  “When the time comes, however, we will have to consider what some call a dead man’s switch.  If it falls, and is using a majority of the power the generator is producing, we will have to duck for cover.  We may even have to hope the wall is fortified enough to survive a blast.”  
    Richard nodded, and pointed as they reached the model.  He looked it over for a moment, before seeing what he hadn’t seen before.  A small switch which was to act as the release for the blade.  He then looked back and the others and said, “Well, let’s hope this isn’t the dead man’s switch.  I’m sure it isn’t, but I’m sure it will end our riddle hunt.”  
    He watched the others nod, and then he pushed the switch.  In an instant, he saw the blade go down, and cut off the dummy’s head.  As it did that, he heard an almost inaudible click, which meant something was activated.  He also looked on at the blade, as he figured the others were looking around to see if they could see any hidden panels open.  He was certain that none had, since the click activated something elsewhere.  What had him focused was the image on the blade.  He knew what it meant, and that the click he heard meant they needed to go to the room behind the skull door.  He realized that the rooms secret would finally be revealed, as well as the meaning of the circular slab with the same two markings on it.  It also meant the lid to the last pot was in that room in some way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter was originally posted up on fanfiction.net, under my given name.


	17. Slide To Victory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having figure out the last riddle, the trio discover the meaning of the riddle, and then come face to face with the last Ixupi.

Chapter 17: Slide To Victory  
  
    Michael McNeal looked at the symbols on the blade, and realized that he was sure the others figured what they meant as well.  They had all seen those two symbols on the round stone in the final room.  Before he could say what he realized, his friend, Richard Cale, said the words on his mind.  “We need to get to the last room.  I’m certain that the remaining part of the Electric Ixupi vessel is in there.”  
    He watched as Richard started to make his way to the final room.  As they followed, he heard Carl Kolchak say, “You know, that riddle chain is the work of a diabolical genius.  How many times did we scale up and down this building just to find the next riddle.  I do hope this is the last.  If another riddle shows up in that last room, I’m going to collapse from exhaustion.  It’s been years since I pulled an all-nighter like this.”  
    Michael understood.  There had been rare occasions at school that he pulled all-nighters studying for tests.  This had been different though.  This one had been a fight to stay alive.  As they progressed to the final room, he was glad they had figured out all the puzzles earlier.  He didn’t think his mind was sharp enough to work out anymore puzzles.  “Agreed, but the adrenaline rush has kept us going.  So, you think this will be our final stop?”  
    He was stunned when Richard opened the final door again, and stopped.  “I think this will lead us to the final part of the Electric Ixupi’s vessel.  Once we have that, I think we’ll have to head down to the basement to capture it.”  Michael and Carl both groaned on that, but he could see Richard was starting to look a bit revived at the rush of this night soon being over.  
    Michael then looked in the room, trying to see where the item could be hidden.  As he looked, he noticed Richard entering the room.  He started to move forward, but he then heard Richard say, “Wait.  I don’t think there is anything dangerous in here, and with the number of Ixupi down to one, I think it might be alright if one of us does something alone.  Besides, I’m sure the secret is linked to that stone circle.”  
    He wanted to argue with his friend, but Carl placed a hand on his shoulder.  “He has a point.  Windlenot’s puzzles have never been malicious.  They just seemed that way because the Ixupi were about.  I would not be surprised to see a panel open up in the wall, containing the last item we need.”  
    Michael sighed, not really up to arguing the point, since they had been up all night.  “Fine, just be careful.  For all we know the panel that opens may be a..”  Before he could finish the thought, Richard had turned the stone, and a trapdoor opened up.  He went to run forward to his friend, but was stopped as a barrier went up.  “Good grief, we need to follow him.”  
    Before he could react, the stone turned back upright, and the trapdoor shut.  When the barrier went down, he ran over, but couldn’t turn the panel.  He then turned to see Carl heading out.  He quickly ran to the reporter, who only said, “Maybe it was set up so that once activated, it shuts for the next group to solve the riddles.  Besides, I think I remember an off color panel down in the main lobby.”  
    He thought for a moment, and realized what it meant.  “That must be where Rich will come out.  Let’s hurry down there.”  At that moment, he felt another rush of adrenaline going through him, waking him up at what ever ungodly hour it was.  He ran as fast as the reporter could keep up with, and made his way through the exhibits before stopping in the Inventions room.  
    As Carl went to the door, he went to the mock pyramid display, and opened the secret panel.  As they entered, he immediately turned in the direction opposite the elevator.  As he moved, he heard Carl say, “Wouldn’t it be easier to take the elevator?”  
    He was halfway down the steps when he responded.  “Do you want to take the time to solve that puzzle?”  Soon, the reporter was next to him, rushing through the secret passages.  He had noticed prior that the puzzle had gotten a bit more difficult each time someone did it.  While Richard always had the patience for puzzles like that, with the situation the way it was, they didn’t have the time.  
    Soon, they emerged from the passage in the Curses room.  They quickly bolted out the door, and looked over the railing to see Richard had come out right where they thought.  He also looked no worse for the sudden slide.  As they ran down, Michael glanced up, and noticed for the first time, a camera that was high up on the wall had swiveled to follow them.  However, as they neared Richard, he was thankful that they could not be seen by the camera.  
    When they got close enough, he was glad to see Richard turn around with a big grin on his face.  He quickly realized why when his friend held up an ancient looking item.  It looked like a small statue of a scorpion, but he quickly realized what is was as Richard said, “Look what I found.”  He felt a new wave or relief go through him, realizing their night of terror would soon be over.  
  
    Richard quickly got up when the others had reached him.  He was thankful when they had gotten there, especially when he had moments earlier noticed the lid to the Electric Ixupi’s vessel.  It was a boon to find, especially after that slide.  He was certain that the slide would normally be a fun trip, but it hadn’t totally been fun this night.  
    He got up, and started towards the door to the Strange Beasts room, with his goal being the Mysteries of the Deep room.  As he moved, he heard the others keep up with him, asking about the slide.  The first to ask was Carl, obviously picking up on something.  “Hey, are you alright?  You look a little shook up.”  
    He wanted to shrug it off, but decided not to.  “It was a bit unnerving, since as I slid down that long slide, I heard the Electric Ixupi taunting me.  There was the occasional light along the slide, and I think it was trying to flash me images of a horrid fate.”  He didn’t say more after that, since he didn’t think the fate he was being shown was his own.    
    As they entered into the Mysteries of the Deep room, he quickly got down the steps and headed over to the hiding spot the rest of the vessel was in.  He then heard Michael speak.  “It won’t help you not to mention it.  It could be better to talk about it real quick.”  
    As Richard picked it up, the pieces fused together, and it was ready to capture the Electric Ixupi.  He then got up, and started back to the main lobby, but spoke as he moved.  “It was horrible.  This thing with a huge blade was looming over, and it’s face appeared to be a horrid merger of all our faces.”  He glanced back just in time to see both cringe a bit, but continued moving.  
    As they passed into the lobby, he knew exactly where they would have to go.  He was certain the Electric Ixupi would only be in one place now.  The only place that would have enough of the element it needed to hide.  It had to be in the generator in the Power room.  
    When they reached the library, he heard Carl say, “That does sound on the weird side, almost like a real life Frankenstein’s monster.  However, I have a feeling none of us will have worry about that.  In fact, I think we are about to write the last word on this one.”  
    As they started into the secret passage, he heard Michael agree with Carl.  “I think you’re right.  This nightmare will soon be over, and we solved a fifteen year old mystery.  However, I’m not sure we should mention everything.”  
    After hearing that, Richard paused and looked back at Michael.  “We need to tell.  For fifteen years, people have accused Professor Windlenot of killing those two.  They thought he fled town.  We know the truth, and we have evidence.  Also, when we were up in Windlenot’s bedroom, I noticed that Geoffrey, the Professor’s son, had written him.  He deserves to know the truth.”  
    As they continued, he heard Carl say, “He does have a point.  I know this will make an excellent story, and the truth here, like most of my other stories, should be known, and I hope it will be known.”  Richard knew Carl had a few reasons to think that, but with the anniversary of the disappearance being now, he was certain no one would stop the story.  
    With all the talk, he almost didn’t realized they were in the power room now.  He walked over to the door to the generator room.  He then paused, and looked at the others.  “Who’s going to have the honors then?  I mean we each captured three of them.  Who should have the final capture?”  
    After a moment of silence, he was a bit surprised when Michael answered.  “Honestly, I think you should, Rich.  You’ve always been fascinated with the place, so it should be you.”  
    Richard looked at both of them for a moment, and said, “Are you sure?  I mean, Carl, this would be the best ending for your story, if you caught the last Ixupi.  And Mike, with all the horror movies you’ve seen, this would be almost like living the ending in most of them for you.”  
    He watched as both nodded, and then Carl spoke.  “That may be true for us, Richard, but I think Michael is right.  You have always been fascinated with this place, as I’ve learned this night, and I’m sure it would be better if you did it.”  He then felt the reporter nudge his shoulder.  “And I bet when you tell the tale to Yvette, she’ll like hearing that you caught the last one.”  
    Richard blushed a bit when he thought about that.  He then nodded and said, “Alright, here we go then.”  He quickly opened the door to the generator room, and the sound it made was almost deafening.  It almost drowned out the sound of the sparking live wire that was exposed.  As he neared it, noticing the others keeping the door open, he heard an extra sparking sound, and saw the sparks on the wire had a green tint.  Soon the creature came out of the sparks, and was ready to strike.  Richard held up the last vessel and smiled.  “Time to go back to your prison.”  
    He watched as the Ixupi tried to retreat, but it was too late.  However, as the creature got pulled into the vessel, he heard a staticky voice say, “You will still die, and if not, you’ve seen your fate.”  The last words worried him, and he wondered if the others had heard.  However, the roar of the generator grew louder, and he realized what the live wire now meant.  The generator was going to blow.  
  
    Carl had just taken a picture of the final Ixupi’s capture, and could barely hear Michael’s cheers of joy.  He lowered his camera, realizing that the long night was soon over, and figured now they would be able to leave Professor Windlenot’s Museum of the Strange and Unusual.  He almost relaxed until he felt Richard push them both out of the doorway.  
    Once they were all out of the doorway, Carl heard the rise in sound and realized what Richard had done.  He looked over at the power room door, and shouted.  “Over there, the generator is about to blow.”  
    As they all ran over, he heard Michael shout, “That thing must have been generating a lot of electricity just for that last Ixupi to hide in.  I just hope we’ll be safe over here.”  He then saw Michael start to turn the door knob.  “You know, it might be better….”  
    Before the young man could complete the thought, or action, a loud explosion rocked the entire room.  Carl looked back to see the door to the generator room fly off its hinges, and part of the wall start to crumble.   Other than that, Carl was sure the room was a mess, but nothing else followed.  
    He took a few deep breaths, walked over, and looked in through the now open door.  Just from that view, he could tell that Professor Windlenot had invested wisely when the building was built.  Even with the gaping hole in the wall, the building seemed stable,  He breathed a sigh of relief at that.  He hated to think they had survived capturing the ten Ixupi only to be done in by a collapsing building.  
    He was then stunned when he heard a voice shout, “That sound came from over here.  Come on.”  In that moment, Carl motioned for the others to come over, and watched as four teenagers, who he was sure had been Michael’s friends.  He could also tell that none of the teens had noticed them yet, talking in awe about the explosion.  
    He remained silent and watched as Michael shouted, “You can stop gawking, and help us all over the rubble and out of here.  I’m not alone in here.”  The statement had obviously been enough to catch the others attention.  
    It was that the one of the young men in the group spoke.  “Mike, how the blazes did you get in the museum.  We were looking around the grounds for a bit until we heard the explosion.”  
    As they helped Michael out, he heard the other young man say, “Yea, how did you get in, and did you cause this explosion?”  
    As one of the girl’s, a blonde helped him out, he heard her ask.  “We are also sorry about all this.  We didn’t know anyone else was on the grounds.  It was only supposed to be Michael here on the dare.  I suppose you guys didn’t also have another guy there, named Richard.  I know his girlfriend is worried about him.”  
    He looked back and saw Richard making his way over the rubble, still holding the one vessel.  He then heard the young man say, “Yes, I was here too.  We will have to let her know I’m alright.  Just help me out a bit.”  
    He watched as the other girl, and Asian girl quickly helped, although she didn’t seem happy.  “I’ll help, since everyone else is busy.  Did you find the ghosts, or mad old Windlenut?”  He glanced back, and watched as Richard just pointed to the gap in the wall, which he could see gave a clear view of the corpse of Beth Ann Nelson.  Almost as if expected, he heard the Asian girl gasp in shock before finally uttering, “Oh…..”  The rest of her statement was cut off as sirens started to fill the air, and the police arrived.  
    Once they were all out of the museum, and the police started coming over, Carl pulled out his recorder, and made a quick audio note.  “Like some stories in the past, it ends with the police arriving on the scene.  They might be receptive to the story, seeing as it closes the fifteen year old missing persons case, but given the circumstances of the deaths, it is possible they might not acknowledge the cause of death.  However, if my guesses are right, the truth might actually get told this time.”  He then watched as the police walked over, some obviously flocking to Richard, whom given events, might have been reported missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter was originally posted up on Fanfiction.net, under my given name.


	18. Relax, Don’t Get Updyke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that they have survived, and captured the Ixupi, everything starts to fall into place for all of them to benefit.

Chapter 18: Relax, Don’t Get Updyke  
  
    Richard Cale had been glad to be out of the museum, and even happier to be done with the police for the moment.  He was a bit embarrassed when the cops asked him if he was alright, and informed him his folks were worried sick about him.  After they had seen the damage, they asked about what he knew.  At first, the police didn’t believe him about what had happened.  Luckily, Carl was there.  He quickly grabbed the photos, and showed the police, who were stunned.  In a matter of moments, the cops entered the building, through the hole, and the secret entrance, and found the other bodies.  
    It took a while, and then everyone was allowed to leave.  Michael had convinced his friends to take him to Yvette’s house, and Carl agreed to take him there as well.  Carl had led Richard to his car, and old Mustang, and sat back in the seat, feeling a bit relaxed, and almost ready to fall asleep.  
    As the car’s finally reached Yvette’s house, he heard Carl say, “I just thought of something.  The police said a show was going to be in town today.  Do you think they will scoop this story from me?”  
    Richard shook his head.  “No, Yvette’s parents know how to talk with the press, and have tools for you to get your story out to your publisher.”  When the car stopped, he got out and saw Yvette’s parents standing at the door.  He then looked at Carl and said, “Just ask them, I’m sure they will help you.”  He watched as Carl approached, looking all humble.  
    Once Yvette’s father led Carl in, he walked over to Yvette’s mother.  He was surprised to receive a hug from her, and then heard her say, “Yvette has been worried sick about you.  She didn’t sleep all night.  Everyone took turns staying up with her, the last being her Uncle Ron.  Now get in there, and I’ll let your parents know you are here.”  
    He nodded and quickly ran in the door.  After being trapped in the museum all night, he was looking forward to seeing her, and telling her about it.  However, before he even saw her, he was caught off guard as she quickly hugged him.  It was almost as she had tackled him, as it caught him so off guard that they fell to the floor.  
    He returned the hug, and even kissed her.  After a moment, they stopped, and he smiled at her.  “I’m sorry if I worried you so much.  I sort of spent the night at the museum.”  
    She let go of him, and gave him a pout.  “I thought you didn’t do those silly dares.”  In part, he could tell she was joking with him, especially as she turned her back to him.  
    He sat up, and pulled her up as well.  “I don’t.  However, Mike got stuck doing it, just as I was up there.  And we weren’t alone.  I met Carl.”  
    He watched as she turned to face him, with her eyes wide.  She leaned in close to him, and quietly said, “You got to meet Carl.  Why was he there?”  He didn’t say, but he was sure she would figure it out.  “He was doing a story on the museum and the disappearances, like that show is going to do today.  Tell me it had something weird to go along with it.”  
    He nodded, and pulled her close.  “It did.  Ancient evil spirits were involved.  In fact, we found the bodies of the two teens, as well as Professor Windlenot.  We also have proof.  Pictures of each of the spirits, some attacking, some being captured.  It was scary, but we succeeded.”  His last statement was rewarded with another kiss, and he accepted it.  
    This time the kiss was cut short when a unknown voice spoke.  “Yvette, I just heard the good news.”  They had both stopped and look to a door way, in which a gentleman was standing, looking dapper, if not a little bit tired.  He had a mustache, and right away, Richard knew this was Yvette’s uncle, Ron Updyke.  All of a sudden, a slightly embarrassed look appeared on his face, as if he walked in on an intimate moment.  
    However, before either of them could say anything, Richard heard the phone ring, and was grateful when Ron turned and went over to it.  “I’ll get that.”  Just as Ron reached it, he noticed Yvette’s eyes going wide, and he looked in the direction she was looking.  Standing in the doorway, obviously not seen by Ron, was Carl Kolchak, and he had a feeling who was calling.  
  
    Carl had moved to the room where the main phone was, and stopped at the sight in front of him.  In the room, he saw that Richard was obviously hugging his girlfriend, but beyond them, at the phone, was his fellow reporter, Ron Updyke.  After all he had learned the that night, he figured Ron was here.  However, he was sure Ron was about to get a rude awakening.  
    As Ron answered the phone, he could already hear Tony on the other end, shouting after hearing Ron’s voice.  “Ron, what are you doing there?  I just got contacted by Carl about the museum story, the one you said you couldn’t do.”  Carl almost wanted to chuckle at the sight, but knew he had to let Ron off the hook, since he was the one who had called Tony.  
    He walked over next to Ron, and gently took the phone.  “Sorry, Ron.  I honestly didn’t realize you might pick the phone up.  I’ll calm Tony down.”  He watched the slightly bewildered man, nod and back away.  He then turned to the phone, and said.  “Tony, thanks for the call back.  I have a bit of a story for you.”  
    He waited as Tony paused and then resumed his tone.  “Carl, where have you been?  I wanted you to call back hours ago.  I wanted something as a start to this anniversary piece, and now I got word that a television show will be there as well.  Give me one good reason…”  
    Carl took a breath, and cut his editor off.  “I have a ton of good reasons, Tony.  I hope you’ve been getting the items I sent out to you.  Lucky that Ron’s relatives have a scanner and computer hook up here.  I’ll make this quick.  Last night, I went up to the museum to look around, so I can get a feel for the place.  There was no visible way in, so I was content to go by what I could see about the grounds.  Then I met up with one local teen, and he told me some interesting things.”  
    There was a low grumbled from Tony.  “Carl, I hope this doesn’t get worse.  I know how some of your stories tend to go.”  
    Carl grumbled in return, and continued, knowing Tony would change his tune when he saw the pictures he scanned in.  “You won’t think that in a few moments.  Anyhow, another teen happened to be dared to spend the night, and we all got locked in on the museum grounds.  As fate would have it, we ended up going in the museum, and solving the mystery.  I’m hoping by now, you are getting the pictures.”  
    At that point, he heard a sigh from his editor.  “Yes, they are coming through now.  Carl, if this turns out to be one of your…..”  At that pause, he knew Tony was seeing the various capture pictures for each of the Ixupi, taken by his Polaroid Instamatic.  “Carl, I’m certain you didn’t doctor these up.  You barely know how to send an e-mail.  These are genuine.  Make this quick, and get a story here once you are done.”  
    Carl smiled, and gave a thumbs up to Richard, knowing this would be his best story ever.  “Long story short, back in 1980, two teens snuck into the museum while the owner was away, and released the creatures in the pictures.  The creatures killed the kids, and then the owner.  However, the creatures couldn’t leave and were stuck in the museum.  The two teens and I caught them, and solved the mystery.  It will all be in my story to you.  I’ll also talk with those from the show that are going to be here today.  They also are doing a story on the museum.”  
    For a moment, there was silence on the line.  Then there was a loud cheer on the other end, before Tony spoke, now in a completely pleasant tone.  “Carl, that is great.  This story will get published, pictures and all.  Get Ron to help you too, since you must have been up all night.  Make sure the teens both help out.  I’m sure that you’ll be able to handle Carl Denning, from that show Case Unsolved.”  There was a brief pause before Tony continued.  “Carl, you did real good on this one.  I’ll make sure every expense is covered.  Hell, treat them all to the best dinner in town.”  After that, Tony hung up, and he glanced as Richard, who was now standing, and jumping around with Yvette.  
    Carl had to admire the young love, and wondered how long before the two fell asleep.  He put that out of his mind, as he then turned to Ron, and said, “Better brew some coffee, we have a lot of work to do.”  
    He heard Ron sigh, knowing that this was interrupting his vacation.  “Alright.  I’m just glad they are safe.”  As Ron headed to the kitchen, he saw him stop before the man spoke again.  “Honestly, Carl, I had a feeling they would be, since I figured Tony sent you there.  However, I think you better get outside.  I think that show’s crew just pulled up outside.”  
    Carl looked towards the window, and then bolted for the door, hearing the two teens behind him.  Ron had been right, and he had to make sure of things before the only other person that was at the museum, Michael, spoke to the crew.  
  
    Michael McNeal sat on the porch as the van pulled up, talking with his friends about what had happened.  None of them could still believe it, until they saw the vessel.  Richard had let him watch it until they could get it back to the museum.  While the people got out of the van, he heard Paige speak.  “So all those years ago, those two teens, Beth and Merrick opened all of these things.  How many were there?”  
    He looked at the blonde, and honestly answered.  “There had been thirteen there, but the spirits of those two and Windlenot had been put into three of the vessels.  That apparently means that three are loose in the world.  The one in here, was the last one that was caught.”  
    He then saw Everett point toward the van, and stated what he thought was obvious.  “I guess you may have to tell the story again, but I’m not sure if they’ll like it.”  Michael had thought it was an odd statement, until he saw that behind the van was a car with both his parents, and Richard’s parents.  He was certain he was going to get read him the riot act.  
    However, before anyone could say anything, Carl came out of the house, followed by Richard and Yvette.  He wasn’t sure which sight was more comforting, the young couple, or the reporter.  
    Soon, Carl was at the front, talking with Carl Denning, whom he recognized as the host of the one show Richard and Yvette told him about.  Carl had even taken off the straw pork pie hat he had worn all night.  “Before anyone says anything to anybody, I’d like to make a few arrangements, if I may.”  
    He moved up as everyone gathered around the reporter, adults and teens alike.  He was surprised when the host of the show lowered his hands, and motioned for his crew to lower the camera before he spoke.  “Not a problem.  I’ve heard of the legendary Carl Kolchak, and I want to hear from you.  I had spoken with one of the officers, and they said you know a great deal about the mystery.”  
    He watched as Carl nodded, and spoke to television show host.  “That’s true.  I know a great deal, as well as Richard Cale here, and Michael McNeal right there.  We ended up cracking the case, and I’m willing to share the information, but I want to be allowed for my paper to publish the story right away.  I know it may take a few days for the television spot to be ready.”  
    He watched as the host nodded.  “Sounds fair to me.  I’d love to be able to interview you, and the two teens, if the parents allow it.”  Michael looked at his parent’s and was surprised to see them nod.  He wondered if his folks were already forgiving him for doing the dare.  
    Before anyone could say anything else, he heard a yawn, and realized it had to be from Richard.  It was also contagious as several others yawned as well, and the adrenaline rush that was fuelling them all night was finally running out.  
    He then heard Richard’s father speak up, speaking over everyone to Yvette.  “Yvette, would your folks mind if we all come in.  I’m sure that our unlikely mystery solvers of the night all need some rest.  It may also allow some of us some time to calm down.  Plus, I’m certain some of this tale would be best told after some rest.”  
    Michael noticed that everyone seemed to be nodding.  It sounded very good to him.  In fact, he was certain he needed some rest too.  They all then headed in, and Michael started thinking that now the nightmare was over, and he was certain he’d never step into another surreal situation like that again.  
  
*****************  
  
    Carl Kolchak sat at his desk, looking at the calendar.  He signed and then picked up his favorite recorder, to record a little note about the day.  He spoke after he turned it on.  “About two years ago, I help solved a mystery that was fifteen years old.  The events that followed were amazing.”  
    He looked at the clipping from one of the papers that had followed his initial story, which showed a grand ceremony opening the museum.  “After the mystery was solved, the museum was opened to the public, by Geoffrey Windlenot.  It had been a grand occasion as the son of Professor Hubert Windlenot said he was proud the truth of his father had finally been revealed.  It also lead to a return of glory to the family name, since many viewed the elder as a bit of a fraud, including his wife.”  
    He then looked at the picture of him and the two teens.  He looked at the African American boy first.  “All three of us were guests of honor, and all benefited.  My career truly took off, and all my old stories were published.  Michael, who quickly put events behind him, enjoyed a brief bit of fame, before heading off to college in a town called Silent Hill.”  
    He looked at the other teen in the picture, who had a redhead right behind him.  “Richard also did well afterwards.  His relationship with Yvette stayed strong, and they both were part of the original people staffed at the museum.  People came many times just to hear Richard’s tale about that night, and he had taken to wearing a hat like mine.”  
    He paused long enough, and wondered what he would say next.  However, before he could, he noticed Tony coming out of his office, smiling as he walked over to the area in front of his and Ron’s desk.  He turned off the recorder as Tony smiled and said, “I have a nice surprised for both of you.  You are both getting assistants.”  
    He noticed Ron had a look of shock on his face as he said, “Tony, I don’t think I need an assistant.  Carl usually gets the stories that an assistant would be helpful with.”  
    He watched as Tony shook his head.  “Not anymore, the powers that be want more stories like that.  Plus these two assistants will be familiar to both of you.  Now welcome them with open arms.”  
    At that, Carl saw two familiar figures come rushing out of Tony’s office.  For a brief moment, he let out a joyous laugh, as he saw Richard and Yvette come over to the two of them.  He then turned on his recorder again, and amended his statement.  “As I was saying, Richard and Yvette has since left Mount Pleasant, Ohio, and gone into the reporting profession.  Hopefully, they will become a success like myself.”  He then turned off the recorder, and welcomed the new members of the staff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter was originally posted up on fanfiction.net under my given name.


End file.
